(Gavin)

"Are you really a bear?" I ask, and the old woman laughs.

"No!" She answers. "I am a Druid, and one of our abilities is the power to take on the form of animals. Zack just likes calling me 'Mama Bear' and telling people I'm a bear, because that's my animal form. You can call me Mama Bear, too, Gavin."

"Okay."

I shift my weight a little, uncertain.

"I sense discomfort in you," she stands. "Come."

She leads me inside and has me sit at the table, then prepares tea and serves it, sitting across from me.

"What bothers you?" She asks.

"Zack," I answer.

"Ah," she smiles. "The bane of sanity himself. Yes, from what he's said of you, I can see why you two would clash a little. Zack is hyper, goofy, and mischievous. He is a Dark Knight through and through."

"He is annoying," I say. "And disrespectful to the Sacred Crystals which granted us this chance, this offer to serve them to protect the world we've left behind us. He is rude, and arrogant, and-"

"That is not arrogance you find in him," she tells me. "But absolute confidence in his abilities and knowledge. If he were truly arrogant, he would not have let you train under my son, believing himself to be qualified enough to teach you everything you need to know. Zack acknowledges his faults and carefully assesses every situation, even when it seems he is being reckless for no reason.

"As for his disrespect to the Crystals," she muses over something for almost a minute before continuing. "Zack is a Dark Knight to the core. He is absolutely loyal to the one now known as 'Big Flame'. One thing to know about the Dark Knights is that their respect is often shown in a different form than others', which can make it difficult to understand when they are being respectful."

"He literally does what he can to annoy Lord Light of Air," I tell her.

"He is trying to have fun," she says. "And wishes that Lord Light of Air would ease up on the stiffness, as it were. That might seem disrespectful to you or I, but Lord Light of Air, according to Lord Light of Earth, whom the Paladins worship more, was one of the first in the System's Sacred Temple when it was needed to wake him to send a message to everyone because of treatment Zack and the Dark Knights were receiving here in Malenor because of Zack's actions, actions that were a result of his Dark Knight nature. It was a message that made it clear to all the Boundary that such actions were unacceptable, and marked the start of bounties against humans who served the Shadow of Life and attempted to interfere with the war efforts."

"Lord Light of Air," I frown. "Did something to protect someone who is disrespectful to him? To all of them? He nicknames them, he talks to them casually and acts as if he can simply talk to them at will-"

"He can," she tells me. "And there are rumors that he has even been in the Sacred Chambers of at least two others, including Big Flame's. And were you to ask a Dark Knight what Zack does before the rest of you wake up, you will no doubt find yourself with the answer of 'train'. But you will also no doubt find yourself speaking to one who has seen him praying at the altar in the most sacred chamber of the Dark Temple."

"Zack?" I snort. "Praying?"

"My daughter," she says. "Is a Dark Knight, and she has mentioned to me that she often enters the chamber to perform a morning prayer, only to find Zack deep in one already. It isn't every day he does it, but it's often enough to show true respect. Your party's leader has a deep connection with Big Flame, Gavin. There are rumors…"

She trails off, her gaze going distant. What kind of rumors?

"I don't think he cares about us," I say. "He's bossy, and he does what he wants. He doesn't consult us on anything, just expects us to do it. He has all this money, yet doesn't spend it on gear for us."

"Finish your tea," she tells me. "Then, we shall go for a walk. Peter will understand. I will show you something, and only then will you likely understand Zack."

I finish my tea, and she pulls on a green and brown cloak, before she picks up a knobbly wooden staff and leaves the house. I follow her, and she leads me through town, to the west gate. She continues to walk, keeping to the path, and I follow, somewhat nervous of this but unwilling to defy someone who is obviously more powerful than me.

Why did she take me out of Maelnor? Where are we going?

For probably five or six hours, we walk. My feet are sore and I am tired, and we only took a break long enough to eat lunch. She won't tell me where we're going, and she kills every goblin that draws near, ending them with a spike of stone that pierces through their chest, leaving a hole behind.

Finally, we find ourselves in a part of the forest where the trees are destroyed, as if something large rammed them with great force. I can see dried blood in some spots, where no rain succeeded in washing it off.

"What-what happened here?" I ask, shivering.

Something terrible happened here. Something bad, and dark. I can feel it in the air.

"A great battle," she answers as she walks to one of the trees, placing a hand on it and closing her eyes, inhaling deeply. "You are a member of Zack's team, Gavin. He cares for you."

"No, he doesn't," I snort.

"The moment he allowed you to stay," she turns her head to look at me. "You became unable to leave. He sees you as his, and will not let you go unless you do something drastic to change that. This is evidence of that."

"You're telling me that Zack destroyed these trees?" I ask. "And what does that have to do with-"

"Not Zack," she tells me, patting the tree and looking back to it before turning to face me. "A beast that only comes out for around a week every year. A beast that eats everyone who ventures out of the Cities. No one had ever seen one and lived before, all we know is to remain in the Cities while it is out.

"A beastborn," she continues. "Named Gold, whom you've likely heard of, knew of the Nian. He thought he could avoid it and train during that time. Instead, the beast chased him up a tree. Zack, fearing for Gold's safety, ran out here. He sacrificed himself so that Gold could escape."

"Sacrificed himself?" I ask. "But he escaped, too, obviously."

"He didn't escape," she tells me. "He played cards and rolled the dice, hoping for the lucky hand and land. Gold was able to deliver the message in time, and the person was able to understand it despite not a word being said. Rescue was able to be sent, and only barely in time. Had help been even one or two seconds later, Zack would not be here today."

I look around at the massive tree trunks, only now realizing just how large and thick they are. What was the Nian, and how powerful was it?

"I find it hard to believe that Zack would sacrifice himself for someone else," I say. "And I still think he's arrogant."

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"You will see," she tells me. "In time, that Zack's seeming arrogance is nothing more than absolute confidence due to his assessment, experiences, and knowledge. The only time he will ever willingly enter a fight where he is not absolutely sure of victory is when it is to save someone he has claimed as a friend. When their lives are in danger…"

She gestures all around us.

"He will put his own at risk to save them," she tells me. "Even when it means violating the rules he holds close, because the one closest to him is 'protect what is mine'. And you, Gavin, are his teammate. He allowed you to spend the night after arriving. You have been branded as a friend of his, and you will find it hard to change that now."

"If I'm his friend," I say. "Then why does he refuse to equip us better? He clearly has the money for it. I've already had to replace my training sword, and better gear would last longer and let me do more."

"Zack is as Zack is," she says. "And his reasons… are his reasons. Even the Crystals can only hazard a guess at what goes through his head sometimes. If you really want to know for sure, ask Luca."

"Luca?" I frown. "Why would he know? Luca has better gear!"

"Because Luca was there for what changed things," she tells me. "He would know best of all why Zack chose not to give the rest of you better gear. He is also the one who would be most able to change Zack's mind and convince him otherwise."

Luca… has that much power over Zack?

"I see doubt and disbelief," she smiles. "Luca holds much power over Zack, even if they are each unaware of it. Zack will do absolutely anything for Luca, and if Luca suggested that he have better equipment made for all of you, Zack would likely do it, even if with complaint. So if you want to know for sure why Zack won't, ask Luca."

I frown again. I only stayed because of Luca, and not trusting Zack with him, but Mama Bear now tells me that Luca has power over Zack? And that he would know best what goes through Zack's head?

"Remember," Mama Bear tells me. "Not everyone is as they seem on the outside. To those who are of the Boundary, or have been here long enough, Zack's actions here, against the Nian? They are something not only expected of a Dark Knight, but considered a natural response. They will sacrifice their own health and safety to protect those dear to them. Come, let us return to Maelnor."

She begins walking, and I follow. This time, we make no stops on the way back to the City, and my feet feel like they are ready to explode from the pain, while I am tired, exhausted. When we finally arrive back at her house, there's a man inside of it, who she introduces to me as Peter. He's in the middle of cooking some sort of stew, and it smells nice.

"I heard you took him out of town," Peter says as I collapse onto a chair at the table.

"I took him to the site of the Nian incident," she says as she removes and hangs up her cloak. "He needed a lesson on why Zack is not always as he seems. Now, he has much to think about."

Peter frowns a little, probably disapproving. What does he think of Zack? He accepted training me, was that because he likes Zack, or because he doesn't trust his training?

"Did you know the beastborn call him 'Hero Zack' for that?" Peter asks. "The monkey boy and wolf girl who talk mentioned that."

Mama Bear starts chuckling as she takes over in the kitchen, pushing him away and tasting the stew.

"You are still helpless," she smacks him with her staff. "I swear your papa and I taught you better, Peter."

"Zack likes my cooking just fine," he says as he sits down across from me. "He said it was very filling, and couldn't eat more than a bowl."

"Zack was putting it into his Inventory, and he later dumped it in the woods."

Peter's shocked face is awesome, and I snort at it.

"Damn him and that special Inventory of his!" Peter exclaims, causing his mother to laugh.

"Special Inventory?" I ask.

"Yes," Peter nods. "Some people in the Boundary are demigods, or the children of gods. As the gods cannot enter the Boundary, they all come from outside of it. They're always special as well, though also quite rare.

"Nathan Normar," he continues. "One of the most powerful people of the Boundary and the most powerful healer of them all is the most famous demigod. You'll notice that he has pure-white light for his holy magics. That isn't normal, as they're normally a yellow-white. Being a demigod often affects things like that."

"Luca's healing magic is white," I say.

"Yes," he nods. "We believe that Normar and Luca are brothers through the same godly father. Zack is another demigod, and he has three famous quirks."

"Three?" I ask.

"Magic," he says. "Is ordinarily blue or the natural color of the item. His flames are purple, his generated wind has a purple tint to them, and we're sure that if he were to use a Skill that's some sort of force, such as Barrier or Magic Arrow, they would be purple as well. Normally, those Skills are blue. Barrier."

He holds his hand out, and a shimmering, translucent blue barrier forms to the side.

"See?" He asks as it fades away. "Blue. We are sure that Zack's will be purple, however, because of his color quirk for flames and tinting of air."

"You said he has other famous quirks?" I say.

"Yes," he nods. "Apparently, it was noticed fast, but he was ignorant of it until Bryce arrived. Zack has two Inventories. You've seen what happens when you put something into yours, yes?"

I nod, then realize what he's referring to. There's always a glow, and about a second's delay before an item enters or exits the Inventory. I've seen this with Luca and Max, too. But Zack doesn't have the glow, nor is there a delay. He touches it, and it goes in. He wants it, and it's there.

"You've realized it," he smiles, and I realize I'm frowning. "The Inventory he uses is special, different from the rest of ours in many ways. Rumor has it, it contains unlimited storage space, unlike the normal one, which is small and only increases marginally as our Levels go up."

"And he uses it to hide the fact that he doesn't eat food he doesn't like!" Mama Bear adds with a laugh.

Peter taps his fingers on the table, thinking about something, then nods.

"Something to know about demigods," he says. "Is that their thought process, while similar to a human's, isn't quite. They have a way of seeing things – including patterns – that is vastly different. And in Zack's case, this can be even literally. Have you ever seen his eyes turn violet?"

"No," I frown. "Seeing things? I think I remember him mentioning something about seeing the future, which is-"

"Absolutely true," he says. "That is Zack's third famous quirk. Zack possesses the power of insight. It isn't completely accurate, but it can grant him limited knowledge. This isn't a secret, as he's used it to warn others of danger before and it was displayed in a war council recently as he tried to see the size of the incoming horde to let us know what we could probably expect."

He can do that?

"Enough of this talk," Mama Bear smiles as she serves us stew. "I did what I could to rescue my son's cooking. Eat, you'll need it and all the rest you can get tonight, because Peter will begin drilling you hard over the next few days."

I nod, then eat the stew. It's good, but… I guess Zack's cooking is better. Is Zack really that special? A demigod, someone who would sacrifice his own life to save others, possesses deep devotion to the Sacred Crystals – or at least, one in particular – and has actually been in the Sacred Chambers of more than Lord Light of Air?

There are rumors I heard while wandering town and making inquiries about him that Lord Dark of Fire-

You've been told to call me 'Big Flame'!

I yelp, jumping at the sudden exclamation in my head.

"Everything alright?" Mama Bear and Peter ask together.

"Um," I frown. "I think that Lord Da-Big Flame can hear my thoughts."

"That's odd," Peter says. "Big Flame rarely tunes into the thoughts of anyone outside of his Order. Ah. Hello, Big Flame."

They just talked, didn't they?

"He says," Peter tells me. "That all the talk about Zack made him curious what you were thinking."

"Oh," I hesitate for a moment. "Is-is it true that you saved Zack's life?"

No response, but Peter gives me a curious look.

"I heard rumors," I say. "That Lord Da-Big Flame saved his life once."

"There are also rumors," Mama Bear says. "That Zack saved Big Flame. No one knows the full story of what happened, or if there is any merit to them. What everyone knows, however, is that Zack is absolutely loyal to him, and that the pair of them possess an unbreakable bond."

Oh. Does one of the Sacred Crystals really view Zack that highly?

I finish eating, then Peter shows me where the bath is and the room I'll be using. After soaking in the bath, I go to my temporary room and lie down, sending a prayer up before thinking about things. How much of what I heard is true? And how much is false?

Is Zack really the kind of person who would sacrifice himself? He's so disrespectful to the Sacred Crystals, and he's rude and obnoxious. Luca does seem to cling to him, though.

Eventually, I realize it's morning. I'm sure I slept, but I don't remember falling asleep or waking up, just that it's no longer dark outside, light streaming in through the window.

When I get dressed and head downstairs, Peter takes me outside and helps me work on my moves. Sword Mastery helps some, but the best way to improve the Skill's Level and acquire further boosts is not just to use a sword in combat, but to improve my own techniques.

"If I feel you've improved enough," he tells me. "I'll take you into the woods to hunt goblins, before Zack returns."

I nod, then return to swinging my sword, correcting it the way he tells me to. By the time Mama Bear calls us in for breakfast, my arms and legs are sore and tired. Is he really going to make me do this all day? He's even more of a drill instructor than Zack!