(Zack)

My mind is reeling, after my vision New Year's morning. That dream-vision… was that really my parents' encounter? I remember hearing that they met when they were still teens, and married after Father graduated high school.

I don't remember them having a wedding, but maybe they kept it quiet? He was sixteen when they met, and that was definitely his name. That man with the brown hair and blue eyes… the same brown hair and blue eyes that I have… was that Existence, taken mortal form?

Why did he interfere like that? Why did he manipulate the threads of fate so that they would meet? I'm glad the vision didn't show me the part in the room, I really don't need to see that. What did he see in someone with that profession, though?

My mind continues to swim until I reach Jackson's shop. He stopped by on his way in and let me know that my equipment was ready. Gold's at the Dark Temple again, and I think he's considering moving in.

He's still embarrassed by what he did the other day, and learned the appropriate Skills. I caught him intimidating the local, non-monster rats to obtain that Skill, and he blushed deeply in response to it.

It'll be lonely at home, if he moves away. I already miss him, and he's still living with me. Nik's told me before that I'm welcome to move into the Dark Temple, too, but I can't do that. Sometime in the next few months, the healer of my party is arriving, and I want to be at the house for it.

Partly to make up to him for how I treated him, back in reality. I can't just let him be thrown into this world on his own. Personalities come intact when we come here – Big Flame told me that while they remove the memories, the impression they left on our souls, that which formed our personalities, remains.

If that's true, he's going to have it rough when he arrives, and my protective instinct towards him screams at me to make sure he's going to be fine. I also have no clue when that Wolf Beastborn is arriving, either, but I doubt he would be as willing to enter the Dark Temple as Gold. The only reason Gold's so willing is because of my saving him, and it being 'mine'.

Gold's weird like that.

Then again, I did see the Wolf Beastborn in the Altar Chamber in one of the visions, which is interesting. It suggests he's a Dark Knight in the future.

Shaking my head, I push open the door to Jackson's shop and walk up to the counter, waiting as he finishes talking with the customer, a high-Level Paladin who's been around awhile, though who hasn't really talked with me much.

Once they finish their transaction, the Paladin leaving behind a sword and shield for repair, the Paladin leaves, and Jackson leads me to the back, where he triggers the privacy enchantment and pulls my commission out of his Blacksmith Inventory.

The armor's nearly identical to my current armor in design, though it's black with red streaks through it, and seems like there's gold flecked through it. The sword and knife are similar.

I remove my weapons and coat, sending the former into my Inventory as I start pulling on my new equipment. It's lightweight, but I'm sure it's as deadly as any – possibly deadlier.

"Thanks, Jackson," I say as I slash my sword through the air. "These are really good."

I can't register them with my Level 8 Appraisal, but I kind of figured that would happen. A powerful alloy made of multiple rare and Holiday ores, plus Primordial Essence? Why would it be anything less than something requiring Level 10 Appraisal?

"You're welcome," he says. "It's the finest set I've made yet. Mixing them together created a powerful alloy, as expected, and it was highly malleable – the coloration was entirely up to me, for instance. The System's registered them as "Zack's Holiday", probably because of what makes them up."

My rewards from Holiday Bosses, and such.

"Yeah," I nod, sheathing my sword. "Anything I should know?"

"All injuries inflicted," he says. "Will have a reduced recovery, even Bleeding, if it's bad enough. Any damage to a critical spot will be amplified, and it can cut through magic with ease, just like your Spook Ore could. Your armor will absorb any magic thrown at you that isn't healing, while giving you a boost against both heat and cold."

It really is malleable, if he was able to take the Turkey Ore's property for cookware and dinnerware and use it for armor. I've no doubt that's where the resistance to cold came from, if he didn't have something like the Ice Lord's core/heart thingy to use.

"There are some other nifty parts to it," he tells me. "But that's about it for the important stuff."

I nod, and he pulls out the remaining ingots, one of each, and six of the Magic Crystals, as well as one jar of the Primordial Essence. I add a Temporal Ingot, five more Magic Crystals, and another jar of the secret ingredient (wrapped in cloth) to the pile, and give him an expectant look.

"How did you-" he starts, then cuts himself off, holding up a hand. "Never mind, I'm not going to ask. I expect you want something even stronger?"

"Yes," I answer. "I can't exactly acquire the other ores right now without an extreme amount of luck, but I'm sure you can make do without. Use what you need to. If using an ore isn't beneficial, then keep it out. I want only the strongest."

"Understood," he nods.

"Thanks," I pull my coat back on. "I'll see you around."

He dips his head, and I leave him to his dealings, making my way back home, where I practice with my new equipment for a few minutes, just to get a feel for it. It's lightweight, and it's powerful. I adjust my Level a bit, to give myself another boost of power. Nodding when I detect no signs of Power Jump preparing to happen, I change into a white and blue outfit before I leave, heading to the home next-door, which looks completely undisturbed, other than having been cleared of snow.

I walk to the table in the courtyard and sit on it, fixing my gaze at a spot near the wellpump, keeping it up as intensely as I can, shifting it when necessary, up until Nathan cancels his concealment.

"Hi, Nathan," I say. "I have a favor to ask."

He looks at me curiously.

"Today's the last day of the Crimson City Walls," I say. "And I don't want to wait a year to settle a grudge match. Would you mind coming as backup? Same condition as with the Santa Boss – only heal me if I'm actually dying, and only step in and interfere if it's needed."

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He thinks for a few moments, then crosses his arms over his chest.

"You know about the beast's special circumstances," I say. "And about a certain item I hold. I'll happily give you one if your services aren't needed. If you do step in and help, well, you'll get a share of the rewards just from that."

He sighs, then nods, removing his coat and tunic, before spreading his wings. He beckons for me to come closer, so I do, and he uses some sort of ropes of light to strap me to him, which is weird, considering that he's a fair bit shorter than me.

The next thing I know, there's a prickling sensation, and I sense that he just used Conceal on both of us before taking flight. It takes us around thirty minutes to locate the Nian, and instead of lowering us down, Nathan simply releases his hold me, causing me to fall towards the ground.

I land in a roll, my new sword in my right hand, my Spook Sword in my left, and begin my attack without delay. I'm a little bit stronger, and while my left sword is the same strength as before, my right one penetrates much, much more easily, with no resistance detected. I'm able to do a lot more damage, and that's before I start using my combos.

And with my twenty new Levels, I'm even faster than before.

The Nian has healed to full since my previous encounter with it, and when I reach a million damage dealt to it, I find myself a bit disappointed.

You have dealt 1,000,000 damage to the Nian! You have already earned the reward for this against the Naelmar Valley Nian this cycle. Try again next cycle.

Damn. I was so hoping to get more, but it looks like I'm shit out of luck on that. The 2,000,000 damage reward gives me the same notification, and I determine, now that I'm thinking a bit more clearly and without the panic of a few nights ago clouding my thoughts, that it seems to get tougher the less Health it has. It likely has an innate form of Rage or Blood Frenzy.

My new sword doesn't seem affected by it, so I press on, curious about what the next reward will be, finding out after just a few more minutes.

You have dealt 3,000,000 damage to the Nian! +1 Stat Token!

A Stat Token? What the hell is that? And it's even rarer than Temporal Ingots, if the rarity of the rewards increases the more damage is dealt.

Instead of thinking about it further, I return my focus to the fight.

You have dealt 4,000,000 damage to the Nian! +5 Primordial Essence!

So I get even that from this, huh? At least I know Stat Tokens are between Temporal Ore and Primordial Essence, though it does bring up the question of what rewards them, normally.

You have dealt 5,000,000 damage to the Nian! +20 platinum!

I just earned double the first reward for doing four times more the damage. Will I earn Temporal Ore again with my next million threshold?

You have dealt 6,000,000 damage to the Nian! +10 Temporal Ingots!

Damn! I'm betting that someone soloing this thing so much isn't normal – indeed, the only reason I can is because of my new sword. I send the Spook Sword back into my Inventory the moment it can no longer penetrate the hide of the beast without a full combo, and even then, it's only scratching the thing.

At least my new armor seems to absorb all of the shock from the attacks, if I can manage to get them in the way. I still get thrown around, but I take no damage unless I either miss an attack, misjudge one of its, or don't react in time.

You have dealt 7,000,000 damage to the Nian! +2 Stat Tokens!

Yeah, the rewards are probably something probably intended to help the truly powerful – only someone who could normally hurt one of these things. I'm betting someone that powerful would probably already be past a couple of Ascensions. Or at least, in their first one. Whatever these Stat Tokens are, they'd probably provide only a meager bonus to them.

You have dealt 8,000,000 damage to the Nian! +10 Primordial Essence!

But still – these resources are coming in like crazy. I mean, I understand this is supposed to be tough – and it is, considering how resilient this thing's gotten and how strong it's become. They'll last me awhile, I'm sure. I could make some pretty decent gear.

That's actually probably the intent. I've no doubt there are much stronger beasts around than the Nian, things that would require even stronger equipment than what I've got. But why so many Temporal Ingots? Is it really that useful?

You have dealt 9,000,000 damage to the Nian! +30 platinum!

Looks like the rewards increase by the base amount each time, but that doesn't matter, since it's still a massive win. I'm starting to feel exhaustion biting at me.

You have dealt 10,000,000 damage to the Nian! +15 Temporal Ingots!

The first signs of resistance for my new weapon, only the slightest shift.

You have dealt 11,000,000 damage to the Nian! +3 Stat Tokens!

I disable System Notifications so I can continue on the fight without the distractions, especially since I know what's coming. The Nian's probably expected to be attacked over several days, not all at once, and I'm getting more and more exhausted as I fight.

Eventually, though, I manage to slay it, and once I do, I collapse onto the ground. Movement occurs near me, and Nathan comes into view, pouting at me.

"I made a promise, didn't I?" I ask, and he nods. I wave a hand, and three bottles of the champagne appears in my hands. He looks happy as he takes them from me. "You're welcome. Want some Primordial Essence and Temporal Ingots as well?"

He probably knows it's a bit of a bribe, so that he won't tell about what we just did. Nik's going to be furious if he hears about it. Nathan looks at me, unsure about if I'm serious or not, so I pull out ten Temporal Ingots and ten jars of Primordial Essence. I have more than enough for myself.

Nathan's eyes widen, and he quickly moves everything into his Inventory. I'm sure he's going to find a use for those. I can tell the bribe worked, so I sit up and reactivate the notices. The pattern continued with the rest of the rewards, including receiving 25 Primordial Essence at 20,000,000 damage dealt. That's quite a lot of Primordial Essence.

There's another notification, but it's not the usual bonus for killing something special – though both of my relevant Subclasses went up from it, and I maxed-out the Level for the current Tier of my new Class.

Naelmar Valley Nian Slain! The Naelmar Valley Nian will take twenty years to be reborn, granting two decades of peace from it to the region!

No bonus reward or anything, but I'm betting the Levels alone would normally be considered enough. I have not a doubt in my mind that it'd be extremely difficult without my new equipment to kill it, even in a large party, and anyone participating would surely receive an immense amount of Experience.

Someone in their first, and maybe even second, Ascension would likely receive a decent amount of Levels from the kill. Especially considering that slaying the Nian earned me a Rank 4 Title, Savior of the New Year. Considering how difficult a Rank 1 Title is, and how much more difficult they get to earn the higher their Rank, that was truly a significant feat.

Already exhausted, I feel myself fading, deciding that I probably did get affected by Power Jump, but only because of those last few Levels. Those are my last thoughts before blackness fills my vision.