(Zack)

Nik decides they can wait a little while before heading to the Santa Boss in the pass, so that I can rest up a bit. By that, I mean that we end up chilling in the clearing for an hour before I'm ready to go, and I look over at the giant sack laying on the ground.

"So Santa Boss leaves behind a present?" I ask.

"Yeah," Nik nods. "Though only the person who delivered the final blow can open it."

I walk over, curious to know what's inside. When I ask, Nik tells me that it changes, often tailored to the person themselves, but there's also quite a few items within it. All I need to do is perform the Access Tap, and I'll be able to open it.

"The fuck is the Access Tap?"

Nik and the others laugh in response to my question.

"Tap it with your middle finger while thinking the word 'Access'," Nik tells me, and I do as he says on the tied-up opening to the sack, a blue window appearing in the air in front of the sack.

Santa's Sack 1 use Open?

"Yes?" I respond, and nothing happens. I look at Nik. "I'm doubting tapping 'Open?' will open it."

"You have to answer," he says. "Not question."

I roll my eyes, then return my gaze to the sack, and the message.

"Yes."

Santa's Sack Opened! +3 boxes candy canes (100-count) +10 large Hams +10 Major Mana Potions +10 Major Health Potions +2 crates Neburis White Wine (15-count) +3 coats +1 pair of Shadowwolf hide boots +1 pair of Shadowwolf hide gloves +20 platinum +10 Christmas Ingots (Red) +10 Christmas Ingots (Green) +10 Blood Ingots +10 Shadow Ingots

"What the fuck?" I stare at the message in my view as the giant sack bursts into a shower of blue-white sparkles that fade away. "That was-I got a hundred items from it? And holy fuck!"

"It always drops a hundred," Nik tells me. "From what we can tell, it factors in your current Level – the higher your Level, the better the stuff you get. A Primordial Essence obtained about two hundred years ago came from it once, from a Level 48 Dark Knight who managed to get the last hit in."

It'd no doubt take being a Dark Knight to damage one of those at such a low Level.

"I got," I read through the message. "Some holiday food, some clothes, something called Neburis White Wine-"

"Neburis?" Nik asks, and I look at him. He sounded confused. "That's… one of the Fallen Cities. According to our records, its vineyards made exceptional wine. You got some?"

"Erm," I say, then grin. "Two crates of it, each with fifteen bottles. I guess that makes up for the three hundred candy canes and ten hams."

Nik roars with laughter, then asks what the rest of my loot was.

"Some platinum," I say. "Then forty ingots."

"The Christmas Ingots and the ham are the only standard," he tells me. "Did it double it up on you?"

"No," I shake my head. "I actually got Blood Ingots and Shadow Ingots, and judging by your expression, that's pretty damn rare."

"It is," he nods. "I obtained some from a Diamond Present about twenty years ago – that's what my sword and armor are forged from. Normally, obtaining them would require killing certain powerful Rare Monsters or mining in certain areas, though the current mines for them don't exist."

In the lost territory, then.

"Ah," I say. "I got ten of each."

Looks like I'm too high of a Level to have acquired the Primordial Essence. Oh, well. It's absurdly rare, so I'm not going to bother trying to get it – especially since even with my luck, it's unlikely to get it.

Big Flame told me that, though he also giggled when he did, so I'm not sure how rare it is for me. But he said the odds of getting it are still one in millions, so it'll be unlikely that I ever obtain it.

So I focus on the stuff I can obtain, like more Levels. And some rest.

"Alright," I look at Nik. "Let's head out."

He nods, and straps me to him again, then takes off flying. Travis removes his tunic to extend his own wings, and Blaine flies using magic. Nathan disappeared at some point, so I'm not sure where he is, but he's probably being shy again and flying as well, just with something like Conceal hiding him.

Nik and the party fly over Maelnor, and I ask about meeting Jesse.

"He's making sure no one else tries to take our kill."

Ah. That explains why he wasn't around for my fight against the Santa Boss.

We reach the Santa Boss, and while I can't see Jesse, I can sense his Sacred Crystal, and judging by its location, he's probably just using Conceal.

Nik places me down a safe distance away, but still close enough to fight, resulting in me sitting on a cliff on the mountains. Well, on a tree on a cliff on the mountains, though Nik didn't actually put me in the tree. I climbed up it once he and the team flew off to meet up with Jesse, who remains Concealed.

Nathan disappears from sight, and the other three start fighting, the four attackers probably obtaining powerful buffs from Nathan.

Nik uses the Skills I know, plus a few of the others he's used or mentioned to me before as Blaine casts powerful area of effect spells and regular spells and Travis striking with his sword. Based on injuries simply appearing, I know Jesse's striking while Concealed.

Once the Santa Boss starts throwing presents, Blaine switches to dealing with the Santa's Helpers, usually by containing them before they can spill out with the same spell he used to give me privacy, then by slamming them with an AoE.

The Santa Boss rapidly throws those presents out against them, which is probably why Blaine doesn't simply keep them contained. It slows down the other presents and the Santa Boss's healing.

When the Santa Boss drops down to under a hundred thousand Health, it starts using ribbons and garland in its attacks, creating a barrier of whips that stop most of their attacks, no matter how powerful.

Eventually, though, they manage to break through. Nik performed a powerful combination of attacks, passing through a gap between the garland and ribbons that Blaine created before it could close back up or attack him, and managed to get his sword through the monster's gut, dealing enough damage to finish it off.

The three of the clap each other on the back, and I focus on sensing the other two Sacred Crystals again just in time to see Jesse appear, dressed… as he always does. Put some damn clothes on out in this cold, I know you changed your outfit just for me to see it, and probably so you're like that when you return to town.

The other Sacred Crystal, on the other hand, is beside me on the branch. I look over at Nathan, then reach out and pinch where his cheek could probably be, and he squeals, and a snow-Nathan appears down below.

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"Hi, Nathan!" I crack up laughing as the little healer pokes his head out of the snow, glaring at me. "Enjoying the show?"

He huffs, then attempts to climb his way out of the snow, which is pretty comical to look at. Eventually, he just removes his tunic, extends his wings, and flies straight up. While they're still mostly pure-white, Nathan's wings have golden flecks to them.

The little healer looks at me, blushes furiously, then vanishes from sight, before flying towards his party.

I stand, crouch down, then push off, uncoiling like a spring, landing in a roll beside Nik and coming to my feet.

"Is Nathan really shy?" I ask Nik as he laughs at me, and he raises an eyebrow. "It's not like I haven't seen him before."

"Keep in mind that he's over a century old," Nik tells me. "He's not comfortable with the fact that he looks ten. That's ignoring the fact that his wife does, too, and she doesn't care."

Nathan has a wife? And she's also got her aging stuck at ten?

There's got to be an interesting story behind that.

Nik opens the sack, then straps me to him again, then everyone flies back to the city, though I'm not sure how Jesse's flying. He's still invisible. Does he have a Class that gives him wings, too? Or a special Skill? Or is he a magician, like Blaine, and knows flight magic?

We reach the city in decent time, and Nik drops me off at home, where Gold's cooking lunch.

"Hey, Gold," I say, and he looks at me, tilting his head to the side. "So I can apparently turn into a dragon."

Gold's mental reaction is a lot less surprised than I expected. It's almost as if he expected me to be able to. Every time I've ever pulled up my personal information window, it says my Species is Human and Type is Crystal Adventurer, so there was absolutely no indication that I could.

Why would Gold expect me to be able to, when even I had no hints I could?

Deciding not to ask, I ask Gold what he's making, and he just rolls his eyes at me, then blushes when he realizes what he did, and I laugh.

"What?" I ask. "Just because I can smell that you're making brats and roasted veggies doesn't mean I can't ask anyway."

Gold hesitantly nods, then starts serving lunch, and I can tell he's thinking about what to make for dinner. After we finish eating and he starts clearing the table and washing the dishes, I set a ham down on the counter, and he looks at it. It's a rather large ham, so it'll probably feed the two of us.

He then looks at me, tilting his head to the side.

"Yes, Gold," I grin at him. "I killed it by myself, too. Wanna help me unwrap the presents later?"

Gold tilts his head to the other side.

"Yes, Gold," I say. "I'll share some with you, even if you didn't fight. You're pretty nice, and pretty helpful, and do all this work without really being asked or forced to."

Gold looks hesitant.

"Seriously," I tell him, and he slowly nods.

He finishes cleaning up, then gets the ham cooking over some coals, and we move into one of the rooms. I asked Nik on the flight back, and he told me that each type of present corresponds to a type of item, but that they can be literally any item in that classification of them. Platinum Presents can be any of the rarest items.

I pull a Platinum Present out. It's a box around a foot on each side, wrapped with platinum wrapping paper and tied up with a neat bow from a platinum ribbon. I hand it to Gold, who taps it, then nods. The present vanishes, and he squeals in horror.

"What?" I ask, and he squirms in his seat. Something about dragons? His thoughts are too scrambled for me to understand right now. "What is it, Gold? What were they?"

He squirms a little bit more, then gestures wildly with his hands before the telltale signs of the Inventory's use forms, and a pair of crimson leather boots appear in the air, which he snatches and holds out to me. They're slightly-metallic, and even the laces seem to be made of the same leather as the rest of the boots.

He got boots from the Platinum Present? That must be why he's freaking out – he really, really wants to go barefoot. But his reaction is a bit wild. Is it because he got boots for a Platinum Present? Or just because they're boots? Does he have something against boots?

Frowning, I perform Appraisal on the boots.

Dragonhide Boots Bound to Gold Boots made of the hide of a red dragon, the defensive and fire resistance stats of the wearer are increased, while the boots themselves are nigh-indestructible. These boots will grow with the owner, and are Bound to Gold. Defensive Bonus: +100% END Fire Resistance: +500%

Pretty damn good reward. Just wearing the pair of boots gives a huge defensive bonus. And Bound equipment? I've not heard of that before, but I'm assuming it means they can't be stolen or sold. Maybe they can be sold.

I can see why they're considered a Platinum Present, though – a bonus that massive to Endurance? If I were to wear them, I'd be pretty damn hard to hurt.

"EEEEH!" Someone squeals, and I turn to find Nathan standing there, holding out a pair of boots to match Gold's, only these ones are white.

He looks pretty damn happy. I perform an Appraisal on his boots before he can disappear from view.

Dragonhide Boots Bound to Nathan Normar Boots made of the hide of a white dragon, the defensive and darkness resistance stats of the wearer are increased, while the boots themselves are nigh-indestructible. These boots will grow with the owner, and are Bound to Nathan Normar. Defensive Bonus: +100% END Darkness Resistance: +500%

Appraisal is now Level 6!

Wait. Isn't my Appraisal too low to read something like Dragonhide Boots? Shouldn't I need, like, Level 9 or 10 for that?

"Hello, Nathan," I decide to focus on my sudden guest, who quickly looks at me, quickly widening his eyes before vanishing from sight, then from the area. Guess he's got a form of Teleport. "That was… interesting."

I look back at Gold, who tilts his head to the side, and realize immediately that Nathan was showing off his boots to Gold. And Gold's thoughts are filled with recognition…

"Does Nathan visit you while I'm gone?" I ask, and Gold nods, blushing. "There's nothing wrong with that, I was just a little surprised you two knew each other. I'm glad you've made a friend."

Gold smiles a little shyly, happy at my praise.

"Alright!" I clap my hands together, pulling out another Platinum Present. "My turn!"

I tap the Present while thinking Access, and the window appears in front of it.

Platinum Present 1 use Open?

"Yes."

Platinum Present Opened! +5 Primordial Essence

I just obtained… five… Primordial Essence. I pull one out of my Inventory and examine it. It's contained within a rather large jar, and seems to be a blue-purple substance somewhere between gas and liquid. Appraisal fails on it, likely because it's too low to read something like this. Obtaining just one is rare enough, but the Platinum Present gave me five.

Gold's looking at the jar curiously, and I send it back into my Inventory.

"It's nothing," I smile at him. "Well, it's obviously something, but nothing you really need to worry about. Let's open a couple of Diamond Presents, yeah?"

I pull out two Diamond Presents, and slide them across to Gold.

"Open one Platinum, two Diamond, three Gold, four Silver, and five Copper, then restart, yeah?"

He thinks for a moment, then nods, pulling the two bluish presents towards him and opening them both. He squeals in excitement at the second one, and his thoughts are all scrambled from it. I manage to get him to show it to me, and it turns out to be a pack of dragon jerky.

By 'pack', I mean 'giant fucking crate'.

I manage to convince him to show me the other present, which is a beanie with little holes for his ears. It's red and green in color, and he quickly pulls it on, beaming at me. I do a quick Appraisal on it, since there's no way it's just a beanie, seeing as it was a Diamond Present.

Beastborn Magus Beanie Bound to Gold A magus's beanie designed for Dog Beastborn, this beanie provides a bonus to magic and magical resistances when worn by any Canine Beastborn. This item is Bound to Gold. Magic Bonus: +100% INT Magical Defensive Bonus: +100% WIL

That's probably good enough to be classed in the Platinum Presents, right? Based off the Dragonhide Boots, anyway. Is being linked to a specific Species and set of it – the Canine Beastborn – the reason it's only Diamond?

Gold's looking at me expectantly, wondering what I think of the beanie.

"It looks very nice on you," I tell him, and he beams at me, his tail wagging furiously in his excitement, then he gives me a questioning look. "Yeah, yeah. I'll open mine."

I pull out two more Diamond Presents and open them, receiving a winterbird down blanket and matching pillow. They'll apparently, supposedly, keep themselves clean, and when I pull the blanket out, it's pure-white (as expected) and extremely soft. I let Gold feel it, and he starts rubbing his face against it, before blushing deeply when he realizes what he's doing.

It's cute.

By this point, Gold's happy, and doesn't seem interested in opening more presents, so we just sit back and relax, and he checks on the ham, even though it's only been a few minutes. Maybe I can pull out a bottle of the champagne for dinner?

Tomorrow, I'm going to return to hunting monsters. In reality, there are six days between Christmas and the end of the year, which would mean that I'd only have three days to the day the walls of the City turn crimson. Which means I have probably only three days before I can't leave the City for a bit.

Then, Imma have six days of celebrations with Gold, because he could really use some extra holiday cheer.

It totally has nothing to do with me liking the idea of spending six days celebrating New Year's.