<>(Zack)<>

"Where'd you get a marble from?" Nik asks, and I look up at him through it.

"You're all warped," I tell him, and he rolls his eyes.

He is. He's warped into the top part of it, as is normal for a marble. It's hard to make out any part of him through the marble.

+1 Perception!

Shut up.

No, you.

Uh… what?

That was a random voice in my head, and to make it even weirder, it sounds violet. Like the color. How does a voice sound like a color? That makes no sense at all.

Who are you?

None of your business.

Then why are you talking to me?

Because I can.

"You look baffled," Nik says, and I drop my hand to my lap, rolling the marble between my fingers as I look back to the Dark Knight.

"Some pervert's talking to me telepathically."

"Some pervert?"

"They won't tell me who they are."

"Only the Crystals can talk directly through minds," he says. "What does it sound like?"

"A child," I answer. "Possibly younger than Big C sounds like."

"I don't know him," he shrugs. "Lord Dark of Flame sounds around the same age as Lord Light of Air."

"I'm waiting for Big Flame to-"

I like that name. Keep calling me it.

"He likes that name," I say. "Says to keep calling him that. He's also apparently forgotten that he already sent a message to all Dark Knights declaring that he'll be called that from now on, after the first time I used it here, shortly after we met."

I did? Huh. Oh! That explains why everyone's been calling me that.

Big Flame giggles.

"Ow!" Nik yelps, then sighs, shaking my head. "He zapped me for not calling him that… I think he's hit every Dark Knight for it."

"He didn't hit me."

That's because you called me it!

"Is it normal for you to interact with us?" I ask.

I interact with my followers more than the other Crystals. So you'll hear me from time to time.

"Got it," I say. "Do you know who the younger-sounding voice that also sounds violet-"

HOW DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THAT VOICE?

He doesn't sound angry as he yells that, just… surprised. And amazed. And shocked.

"Ow," Nik says. "Milord, you yelled that to the point that I heard it."

I think all of my people heard it, Big Flame giggles.

"He talked to me a minute ago," I explain. "But won't tell me who he is."

Oh, okay.

"You're not going to tell me, are you?"

Nope!

"Okay," I say, then look at Nik. "I guess that means I can ignore him now, too."

Hey!

"I wanted to ask something," I say. "Going into the history of the Boundary, maybe."

"Sure," Nik says. "Though if you want to go too far back, no one really knows."

"What do you know of a space that ends," I say. "With mountains, a wall of a milky, slowly-swirling oranges, pinks, and yellows? There's a field several miles across leading up to it, a forest on the other side."

"The wall you just described," he says. "Is the edge of the Boundary – it's impossible to pass through it. It's theorized that the side of it on the far side of the valley the capital rests in can be breached to enter reality, but no one is entirely sure. There's a temple atop it-"

"With eight pillars, representing each Crystal?" I ask, and he nods. "And a series of green, white, brown, and red runes etched into the ground, merging together into violet ones?"

"How did you know that?" He asks.

"I had a dream."

"No one dreams in the Boundary."

"I do," I remind him. "Every night so far, always showcasing the same person, a powerful mage who, in last night's dream, also wielded a dangerous sword."

The one you dreamed – were they glowing, or no?

"They weren't, Big Flame," I say. "The mage said that, once he restores the Temple, the Shadow of Life would have to spend another thousand years, minimum, before he could enter the Boundary again. He also referenced someone called 'Alexander', and said that he'd make every attempt to stop them from reaching the Temple. He's probably some Adventurer that works with the Shadow of Life and wants to see him succeed."

Actually… Big Flame sounds serious. Alexander is the Shadow of Life's mortal name, the name he had before he became the Shadow of Life, when he… when he was still human.

There's sadness in that voice, telling a story to me.

Big Flame knew Alexander, the Shadow of Life, who was once mortal, just like us. Something happened a long time ago, but Alexander was trusted by him – and possibly the other Crystals. Possibly praised and seen as a great warrior, here in the Boundary.

Then he got greedy with power, began to practice things that went against the way of the Crystals, and did something that gave him a type of immortality and attempted to breach the Boundary and enter reality.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

The Crystals were then forced to seal him away, and that Temple is the sealing point. So long as it's active, the Shadow of Life cannot influence or affect things here in the Boundary. The Crystals had likely expended a lot of power and energy to forge it, to bind him down, and it's affected them all.

I'm not sure how accurate that story is, and it could be entirely false, but it's the message I got from Big Flame's tone.

"The Shadow of Life was once human?" Nik asks.

Indeed, Big Flame answers. Just like all of you. He practiced dark magics in secret from his friends while pretending to work for their goals. He converted three of those friends to do the same, until they became no different than monsters in the guise of humans.

They were jealous of the others, you see, for the others held rare and unusual powers, while the four of them were ordinary, even if older. Those friends weren't arrogant, though, but kind and gentle, and also mere children. But that mattered not to those four, who only saw power they couldn't attain, power they absolutely wanted.

In the end, the four of them killed their friends, he continues. Mercilessly, stealing the power within them and absorbing it into them. They were children, and the Shadow of Life and his allies butchered them. They were supposed to watch over them, care for them, and ensure they grew up to be fine magicians, but because those boys had powers they didn't, they killed them without hesitation, without mercy, once their powers were refined and he and his three real friends were ready to steal them and had acquired immortality!

Big Flame falls silent after that rant, leaving us in silence for several long moments. I open my mouth to speak.

They only succeeded with most of the children, Big Flame continues, his voice returning to calmness. But one of them… one of them, the last of them to be targeted, had realized the others were dying. He prepared a spell far more powerful than one would think possible, his raw emotions and rage fueling him. He was the youngest of the boys, but he had the highest aptitude for magic – and a rare gift for sealing things.

When Alexander and his allies came for him in the night, his 'brothers' dead in their rooms, that boy cast his spell.

I won't go into more details on what the spell was, but in the end, it allowed the nine of us to seal Alexander and his friends away, using the souls of those boys as the anchors for it. So long as those two temples stand and at least one is active, Alexander and his friends cannot break free, and they cannot breach the Boundary and enter into reality. That boy's sacrifice will not have been in vain.

We've managed to hold him off for thousands of years, now, but time is passing by, and he grows ever stronger, his forces ever greater, and one day, it will happen. That is inescapable. But we want to ensure that he never does, that their deaths are used properly.

Unfortunately, without the one of the prophecy spoken long ago, we must only wait, and hope that as we continue to bring the worthy into the Boundary, most will fight for our cause and stem the flow.

Sadly, Alexander grows stronger, and the Adventurers grow weaker and less-numerous. I had Wisdom send you to Maelnor in the hopes that you'd be able to clear up the weaker monsters gathering around it in preparation for the horde coming once spring hits.

With luck, you'll be powerful enough to make a difference in that battle, too. We can only hope Maelnor stands, for if it falls, then the Boundary will be breached by next winter. We have yet to see the signs of the change in the tide, though… so it's possible the prophecy was wrong.

Big Flame sighs.

We don't have the power to reactivate the Temples, it required the magic sacrifice of that boy and the bond between him and his friends in order to do the first time, and due to various… reasons, it is not something that could ever be done again. An Adventurer would be required to go to the Temple of Bonds and reactivate it, much in the same way they would reactivate a Fallen City's Crystal Altar. And no, it's not something we can tell you, it's… complicated. Only those capable of actually doing it will ever know the full way, as a result.

If it comes down to it, we may be able to slow him down a little bit more, but it'd require killing millions of Adventurers to do, and would also possibly make him stronger. So it's not one we're wanting to do unless pushed to it.

Zack, Big Flame directs his attention right to me. Could you please explain each of the dreams you've had so far?

"Sure," I nod, then describe each of them in as much detail as I can.

You're absolutely sure that's what the boy looked like? He asks. The child healer, not the mage.

"Yes," I nod. "Why?"

He hasn't died in reality yet. That said, we're aware that his death is coming up, though it likely won't be until spring comes, sometime before the horde comes.

"So I'm dreaming the future?"

Not quite. What you're dreaming is likely a possible future, which would be why you saw the Adventurer hastily flying to the last City, to protect it, but also on his way to the temple, to restore it. It can only be restored if all Cities are active – that is, all City Barriers are active. The two directly contradict each other. So it's likely you're simply dreaming possible futures. The gift of sight is a rare one, and one of the reasons-you should get training, Zack. You have a long journey ahead of you, if you wish to be as useful as you claim.

"One of the reasons what?" I ask, but Big Flame doesn't respond. "Big Flame?"

He refuses to respond, no matter how many times I call out to him, so I sigh and look back to Nik.

"Don't look at me," he says. "His Lordship rarely talks with us more than a few sentences. He's essentially given the greatest speech in existence in comparison. He also gave us history none of us were aware of. The Crystals must take on those childish personas to honor the boys who were slain and the sacrifice made."

"Yeah, maybe," I say, sending the marble into my inventory, then jump off the wall. "I'm heading out, Nik. Thanks for the answers. See you later."

I turn and leave, thinking about what Big Flame said.

It's not that I don't believe him, but I sense that there's more to the story and the Crystals than he shared. Those boys meant something to the Crystal, I'm sure of it. Something more than just their sacrifice.

But for now, I'll leave it be. There isn't a chance in the Boundary that he'll give me more answers, and I doubt the other Crystals would be willing to. The most chaotic of the Crystals, the one who interacts with his people the most and shares more information with them than the others do, was serious and sad about the event. There's not a chance in the Boundary that the others would be more open about it than him.

With that in mind, I make my way to the West Gate, so that I may make my way into the woods once more and hunt down Goblins.

When I arrive there, an Adventurer is standing beside the gate, leaning against the City's wall. He's dressed in leather boots that reach his knees, like many of the lighter-armored Adventurers, dark brown pants tucked into the boots, and a sleeveless, dark green tunic, three knives and various pouches strapped to his belt. He also has on sleeves that cover his arms up to the middle of his biceps, black in color with dark grey, barely-perceptible runes sewn into them. His hands are covered by black, fingerless gloves, and over his outfit is a dark brown mantle, though it's currently open as he's scratching the back of his head.

"Hello," I say as I approach him.

"Hello, Zack," he stops scratching his head, then takes a step forward, frowns for a moment, opens his mouth, closes it, then opens it again before sighing, casting his gaze downward. "This is hard."

What is hard?

"I saw you running through town earlier," he looks back at me.

"Are you complaining about my desire to not sweaty-up my tunic and boots?" I ask. "Because it's perfectly normal to-"

"No," he says. "Ignore the ones who told you that. It's understandable. A few of us do it, too, but we run in a different part of town."

And judging by your attire, you probably aren't seen as you do it. Actually, I doubt you run through town shirtless, as you seem pretty shy.

Ah. Talking's probably hard for him.

"So what's up?" I ask.

"I noticed how silent you were," he says. "As you ran. As a rogue-based Adventurer, I have high Perception, and that was the only reason I could detect your footsteps, though your breathing was a bit louder, but still steady and calm.

"Because of that," he continues. "There are two Skills that might benefit you. The first is Sneak. It muffles your sound by ten percent per Level of it. You can obtain it by working on moving as silently as possible, no matter what.

"The second Skill," he continues. "Is Conceal. It conceals your presence, allowing you to 'blend' into your surroundings. You don't actually change your appearance, but it causes monsters and Adventurers alike to look through you as if you aren't there. It takes a high Perception to see through it, and that's if the other person's Intellect isn't high enough to affect that."

"So focus on concealing my presence?" I ask, and he nods. "Thanks, sir. Oh, I know you're probably spent from talking that much, but I do have one question. I noticed that some of my stats seem to no longer 'amplify' my natural attributes, but became somewhat 'set'."

"Ten," he says, and I raise an eyebrow. He opens and closes his mouth several times. "Once a stat reaches ten points, it switches into a set system, meaning that someone with 9 Strength might be as strong as someone with 5 Strength, due to the amplification of the body, but two people with 10 Strength will be of relatively similar strengths. In most cases, it's still a buff, but for a few, it's a nerf for a short while. Goodbye."

He mutters something I can't catch, then fades out of my notice. Did he just use Conceal? The fact that he didn't give me an incantation tells me I probably just need to use the Skill's name, though.

He must have used some high-Level rogue Skill to erase the sound of his voice.

I'll figure it out some other time. For now, I'm heading to the forest.