(Zack)

"And remember," Nick mutters as we enter the house. "Behave, Zack."

"Always do, Nik!" I grin at him, and he groans as Peter chuckles.

Peter has a big house, rather than the standard, like what Gold, Nathan, Aurum, and I live in. A small yard in front and in back, all of the rooms of the house opening up inside rather than outside.

Well, our bedrooms are internal, but that's it. Everything else opens up outside.

The furniture in here isn't that fancy, and probably brought in with Peter. His team lives here, too, Nathan told me, but the rest of them are out doing stuff at the moment, mostly so we can have a private dinner and meal.

Liz greets us warmly, and I compliment her on the smell of dinner. She laughs, then tells me she needs to get back to cooking so it doesn't burn and leaves, heading back to the kitchen. The rest of us sit in the living room, and Gold sticks right beside me, pressed up against me. I can feel his nerves, but they're not like with the Druids before.

He's just nervous to be around unknowns, and how they'll react to him sitting at the table with us. If they'll let us. They probably will, since he's a Dark Knight, and there are two others of our kind here.

Once Liz finishes cooking, she calls us into the dining room for dinner. It's a ham, with a salad, two casseroles, a bunch of rolls, and she promises us pie for dessert. Her food is delicious. Way more than mine.

Every few bites, Gold gives her a nervous glance, and I think he misses all of hers and Peter's. They're all uncomfortable with the situation, but aren't saying anything. That's good.

Dinner is mostly spent the same way as before, with Nik and Peter chatting about hunting and fighting and stuff, and I can tell that Peter's also nervous of Nik. Not because of Gold being here and his views on it, but because Nik's a Dark Knight with a powerful reputation.

One even greater than mine. I need to fix that. Must be patient, Zack. You. Must. Be. Patient. When the great battle of the war comes, you will exceed his reputation, and will become known as the greatest Adventurer ever.

I am going to kill that fucking Dragon.

After dinner, I tell Liz that Peter can clear the table.

"That way," I say. "We can stop delaying me seeing your bear form. Gold'll show you his claws if you do."

Gold gives me a confused look, and she raises an eyebrow.

"Come on," I say. "Show me that bear form!"

"I'll help," Nik tells Peter, then looks at me. "Zack, behave."

"I always do," I grin at him.

Nik and Peter start clearing the table, and Liz mutters some strange words under her breath. As she does, her body begins to shift, rippling, fur growing out as her body increases in size. In under ten seconds, she's a grizzly bear.

"That is so fucking cool," I say. "Guess what? I can turn into a Dragon!"

"Not at will!" Nik calls out as she returns to her human form.

"And your clothes and stuff did the transition, too!" I exclaim. "That's awesome! When I turn into a Dragon, mine are destroyed."

"You can turn into a Dragon?" She asks.

"Yeah," I nod. "But not at will, unfortunately. See, I'm really this super powerful demigod gifted with the power of transformation, though my ancient immortal relative said I can only shift between human and dragon. Maybe one day, I'll be able to retain my clothes. I've actually only done the switch once, anyway. Completely blacked out for the whole thing."

Yeah, she totally doesn't believe me, and her expression is priceless.

"Alright!" I say. "Gold! Use Claw!"

Okay, that was bad, and Gold can definitely tell there's more to that command than he knows. He can sense it in my giddiness.

Rolling his eyes, his face flushing, Gold holds up his hands, claws forming at his fingertips. I glance down, confirming they're still on his toes, too, then look back at Liz, who looks… curious.

She steps forward.

"May I?" She holds up a hand, and Gold gives her a hesitant nod. She takes one of his hands and examines his claws. "How interesting. I wasn't aware Beastborn could do this."

"I'm not sure if it's normal," I tell her. "Or just because he has Access. I think it might just be a Skill, and that it was something he could do purely because of what he is."

"How did he get Access?" She continues to examine his claws, and I can tell Gold's getting uncomfortable.

"I made a deal with Big S."

"Who?" She gives me a sideways look.

"The ninth Crystal," Nik says before I can respond. "The one that supports the System itself. Zack gives all of them nicknames."

"Oh?" She raises an eyebrow. "So I take it you're the reason all of the Dark Knights are suddenly calling the Crystal of Dark of Fire 'Big Flame'?"

"Yep," I grin at her. "Big S runs everything and keeps everyone else in line, while Big Flame is the awesome one."

Thanks!

"You're welcome!"

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Nik laughs, shaking his head, and I stick my tongue out at him.

"What?" Liz asks.

"Big Flame responded with 'Thanks'," Nik tells her. "Whenever he talks to Zack in something that's not a private matter, any Dark Knight near him hears it."

Gold grins, nodding as his tail wags.

Liz releases Gold's hand and raises an eyebrow.

"What else can you do, if you don't mind my asking?" She asks, and he shifts around.

"He can enhance the power of any bite he makes," I tell her. "Though I think you Druids have something similar, for when you're in animal mode."

"Yes," she nods. "We can only use it in those forms."

A knock at the door interrupts further conversation, and I give them a curious look.

"That's probably him," Peter says.

"I'll get it!" I run to the door before anyone can protest and open it to find Jackson standing there. "'Sup?"

"Hello, Zack," he chuckles.

I step aside and let him in, curious about why he's here. I close the door and return to Gold, who's retracted his claws.

"Welcome, Jackson," Nik seems about as surprised as I am to find the blacksmith here. "What brings you here?"

"Business," Jackson answers.

"Right," Peter said. "Aunt Liz? Where did you put it?"

"In your bedroom," she tells him, and Peter leaves.

"What's going on?" I ask.

"You have something he wants used," Jackson tells me.

"Oh! Right!" I say, then look at Liz. "Wait, so you brought the payment?"

"Yes," she chuckles. "I was supposed to come out with this group already, so it wasn't too much of a bother to grab a bit extra for my nephew so that we can finally have a sword to match the equipment."

Peter returns, bringing with him his equipment. I raise an eyebrow at that.

"I'll need it to match the sword to it," Jackson explains.

"Ah," I say. "Do you have the ores you need?"

"Yes," he nods. "Peter dropped them off yesterday, asking me if I'd hold onto them until we could arrange for you to sell the Primordial Essence. Now, just to verify, you are going to sell it to us?"

"Nik vouches for him," I gesture to my mentor. "That's good enough for me, most of the time."

"Most of the time?"

"You've made some questionable decisions before."

"Like what?" He asks.

"Taking me on as an apprentice."

Gold nods in agreement, and the four adults crack up laughing. Jackson sends the armor into his Blacksmith's storage, whatever it's called. I can't remember. Then, Peter pulls out several platinum coins and hands them to Jackson, totaling around five hundred plat. Holy fuck, that's a lot.

After that, he pulls out fifteen hundred plat's worth of coins. That is a lot of platinum. What's a boy like me gonna do with all that?

"Jackson said they cost a thousand," I say.

"Starting," Peter says. "And having this sword is worth quite a lot, Zack. I consider this a more fair price for it."

"Okay," I say, then accept the money, sending it into my Inventory, then pulling out one of the jars of the purplish substance. "So do I give this to you or Jackson?"

"Jackson," he answers.

I nod, then hand Jackson the jar, and the blacksmith sends it into his storage for that shit.

"I'll have the sword done in the next three days," Jackson tells the paladin. "I'll send you a message when I finish."

The paladin nods and thanks Jackson, and the smith says he needs to get going, then leaves. Nik looks at me, then snorts.

"What's that look for, Zack."

"I am probably the richest kid in the Boundary," I say. "Especially on the list of ones who actually earned their shit and wasn't just handed it."

"You were just handed it."

"I sold something," I point out. "Something that I earned."

"Zack?" Peter asks, and I look at him. "I've noticed that you wear your armor and sword all the time, even while just walking around town. Why?"

I'm not the only one who wears their gear around town. I do probably take it to more of an extreme, though, since most don't if they're not planning on leaving or aren't returning or doing guard duty or something.

"Agents of the Shadow of Life are everywhere," I state in my most ominous of voices.

"Plus," Nik adds. "He thinks he looks cool in it."

"I do look cool in it," I say. "Plus, it helps deter people from fucking with me. I hear the whispers around me, not everyone's happy that a kid's as tough as I am. If I weren't wearing my armor, I'd have probably had to beat some lessons into people."

Nik starts to say something, then sighs.

"Fuck," he mutters. "That's actually a good point."

It is, that's why I do it. Think about all the people who have caused issues with me. Then remember that those are the ones who were arrogant enough to do something after seeing me in my gear.

"Gold and I should get going," I say, then grin at Liz. "I'll see you around."

"See you," she says.

I gesture to Gold, and he follows me. As soon as we're off Peter's property, Gold lets out a heavy sigh in relief. He was getting uncomfortable to an extreme. We walk in silence, for the most part, and when we're halfway down the street to our house, someone steps out of the shadows.

A large, bulky man with a sneer on his face.

"I hear you're a kid with Primordial Essence."

"I hear you're only Level 134."

"Only," he scoffs. "Give me all of your essence, kid. I know you keep it stored in a special, theft-proof Inventory."

I narrow my gaze on him. If he knows who I am, then he's confident he can handle me. Gold's terrified, and is frozen in fear. Is this the guy who had that special potion made from the stolen Primordial Essence? Does he believe he can take me simply because he's a physical-based Class kind of Adventurer with an impossible Endurance?

"What'll you do if I don't?" I ask.

"First," he says. "I'll torture you. Fail to give it all up, I'll torture your little friend there, then the pretty girl that-"

He doesn't finish speaking, as my fist slammed into his throat. No one threatens Gold. Ever. Or Kylie. They. Are. My. Friends!

He punches me in the stomach, and I'm pushed back a bit. I charge forward, and he laughs, telling me that even Nikolai, one of the most powerful Adventurers in history, would never manage to scratch him, even with a full combo.

I duck under his fist. He's fast. I slice up with my knife, not bothering to use a Skill. This isn't the knife I'm wearing.

It's from the Zack's Blood set. Sharper than any weapon before it, with an increased Bleed effect for even the slightest scratch given. Part of a set of equipment that let me kill one of the most powerful Bosses in the Boundary.

My knife slices through his stomach, and he yells. Sucks to be hurt when you're unhurtable, doesn't it? I slice at him again, and he grabs at me. I cut through his arm, and he roars, punching me. I'm thrown across the street, but am back up in an instant.

He's got Gold in his hand, the Beastborn whimpering, waves of fear emanating out of him. The asshole has a knife to Gold's throat.

My vision goes red, my rage peaking.

"Listen here, boy-" the asshole begins.

The next thing I know, he's in pieces on the ground, and Gold's several feet away, staring at me with wide eyes when I turn my gaze to him. What happened?

"Gold," I say, and he whimpers. "You're hurt."

I bolt forward, reaching him before he can run and grabbing him. He howls, and I press a hand against the cut on his neck.

"Heal," I say, watching as his flesh mends, a notification informing me of how much I healed him. "There we go, Gold. You're all better."

I look back at the body. Or, well, its pieces. I really did a number on him. He's… dead. I killed him.

I killed the asshole, and he deserved it. He tried to steal from me, tried to use Gold as a tool against me, threatened to hurt him and Kylie. He killed someone else for his greed, and has been an asshole for too long.

He will never treat someone like this again.

"It's okay, Gold," I pull the Beastborn against me, gripping my knife tightly. "It's okay. You're okay. No one's going to hurt you, so long as I'm around. I'll protect you."

My vision starts to go black as I promise Gold I'm not letting him get hurt by anyone else.

I'll protect… you. I'm not… going… to… lose… anyone… else…