(Gavin)
"So that's a goblin?" I ask.
"Yes," Peter answers, placing a hand on my shoulder. "Remember, your goal is not to kill it as quickly as possible, Gavin. It's Level 1, but it's still a monster stronger than the rats you've fought so far."
"Okay," I nod.
"You have two options," he says. "The first is that you can try to sneak up on it, while the second is to simply approach. As a warrior, either option works."
Zack would probably just charge right in.
"If you're thinking about what Zack would do," Peter says. "He's strong enough to kill weaker monsters like goblins with ease. He's light on his feet, he has reflexes that were honed before he came to the Boundary, and he has raw battle Experience. When he needs to be for a better advantage, he's able to become as silent and stealthy as any rogue."
The thought of Zack, who is extremely noisy and obnoxious, being stealthy and silent makes me snort.
"It is believed," Peter gives me an amused look. "That Zack's Sneak and Conceal Skills are close to Level 10. Sneak can only be obtained by being silent as you move around, and triggers actively to muffle your sound. Conceal helps you fade from notice. It doesn't turn you invisible, it simply makes it so that people are more likely to view you as part of the background; unimportant and uninteresting. Zack is a boy of many talents and sides, Gavin. Now, try to kill the goblin."
I nod, slowly drawing my sword and approaching the goblin. I really, really doubt Zack could ever be sneaky.
My foot snaps a twig, and the goblin turns its head to face me. Giving up all attempts at sneaking up behind the goblin, I rush forward, swinging down with my sword. The goblin dodges to the side, and my sword hits the ground. I pull it out as the goblin punches me in the arm.
"Ow!" I yelp.
That hurt!
I twist, swinging my blade at the goblin's side, and manage to cut into its arm, which got in the way. It wails, swinging its fists at me wildly, and I do my best to stop them with my sword as it continues its attack. The random attack is making it hard for me to do anything, and my Health keeps dropping, even if only by a point or two, every time its fists connect.
"H-Heal!" I use the Skill Peter taught my yesterday.
+4 Health!
I can only barely cast it once, and it doesn't help me much yet. Peter's made me work on increasing my Wisdom and Intellect, but it isn't that easy.
I manage to land another strike on the goblin, in its shoulder, but that's it as it continues to attack. This is hard! No wonder he wanted me to wait until I was at least Level 5. Is that even going to let me be high enough?
Just as I'm about to ask Peter to rescue me, there's a sharp whistle through the air, and the goblin stumbles back, an arrow of green magic sticking out of its right eye.
+17% Squire Experience!
Right, we gain Experience even if we aren't the one who killed it, based on contribution to the kill, our current Level, and how hard the fight was for us, among other things. I guess getting my butt kicked helped me acquire more Experience? But who killed it? And so easily?
"Are you okay?" A quiet voice asks from behind me, and I jump, turning to find Braden standing there, looking at me with concern in his eyes.
"Y-yeah," I answer. "Where did you come from?"
"I was hunting," he answers quietly. "Saw you by yourself, losing. You're only Level 1, you shouldn't be fighting goblins yet."
"You know my Level?" I ask, and he nods.
"I have Appraisal," he informs me, looking around, then letting out what sounds like a bird's call.
"I wasn't alone," I look around, then gesture to the bushes that Peter and I were hiding behind. "My trainer's over there."
Based on the direction the arrow came from, and the direction Braden's looking in, he probably didn't see Peter.
"Oh," he looks back to me. "Sorry."
"How are you already strong enough to hunt goblins?" I look at the bow in his hands.
"I'm not," he answers, then points to his eyes. "But few creatures can live once you pierce their brain, and nearly all monsters and people have a common weak spot. As an Archer, I can take advantage of that easily."
"Oh," I look down at my sword, then pull out a cloth and start wiping it off. "Peter… brought me out here because I wanted to fight goblins, not rats. He said I'd see why he was waiting until I reached Level 5, if I did during our training. He said I probably won't."
If Braden's able to hunt goblins, and we're already four days into the seven, what Level is he now?
"You likely won't," Peter says, and I look over to find him approaching us. "Most people take months to years to reach that. You boys on Zack's team are special, though, so it might only take you a few weeks of good training. Ordinarily, by the time someone is Level 5, they're strong enough on their own to handle an unarmed, Level 1 goblin."
"I… apologize for snapping at you," I tell him.
"You are forgiven," he smiles. "And Gavin? It was Zack who asked me to let you hunt goblins, if you reached Level 5 during the training."
"Zack?" I ask.
"Yes," he nods. "Zack. I wouldn't have done it until you advanced to the next Tier of your Class. Was that Brandon I heard responding?"
"Yes," Braden nodded. "I need to get going. Sorry for interrupting, I didn't know it was part of his training."
"It's okay," Peter smiles. "I was about to step in, myself."
Braden nods, and then he's taking off, moving silently over the forest floor and out of sight, disappearing behind bushes and snow and not reappearing.
"Responding?" I ask.
"The bird calls," Peter tells me. "Unless you know what to listen for, you won't know what you're hearing. That boy has already mastered the art of imitating birds, it seems. Do you understand why we're waiting on having you fight goblins, now?"
"Yes," I sheathe my sword, then look at the dead monster. "I'm… not strong enough to."
This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
"I'm glad you understand," he smiles. "Let's return home, we can work on your style, and we can discuss the fight on the way."
I nod, then we start walking. He asks what I did wrong, but I'm not sure. He recommends that the next time, I either switch to martial arts, which I still lack the Skill for, or I step back from the attacks and try to circle around. Sometimes, it is better to avoid fighting face-to-face and attack from behind. He tells me it's not dishonorable, especially against monsters.
From in front, they can block and avoid easier. From behind, they have a harder time doing so. I'm not sure I want to do that, but he promises me it's okay.
----------------------------------------
(Braden)
"I accidentally interrupted his training," I tell Brandon.
"They said it was fine," he tells me.
"I still feel bad."
"I know," he says. "Did you decide which one you want to learn?"
Even though I'm currently Level 6 due to the high amount of goblins I've killed over the last few days, Brandon wants me to learn the Skill I'll need for Tier 2 now, so that I can work on getting more Experience by using it and on Leveling it. The Ranger Class is either-or pretty much all the way. Just like I needed either Archery Mastery or Magic Archery Mastery to take on the Archer Class, there are two Skills I can pick from for Hunter.
The first option is Piercing Strike, which can ignore up to 5% per Level of an opponents defense for magical arrows. The other option is Power Shot, which increases the damage of the shot by 5% per Level. Both take 5 Mana to use, but I think Power Shot might be the better option. When it's a magical arrow, the damage is increased by both Intellect and Strength, which actually makes it do more damage.
Though Brandon is only teaching me one right now, he said it won't be an issue for me to take on both.
"Power Shot," I tell him.
"Okay," he says. "Let's return home, and I'll teach it to you."
I nod, then the two of us journey through the woods, killing any goblins we come across. There are a few stronger threats, like wolves and giant spiders, but Brandon takes care of those.
When we reach the fields, we can see Max training. He seems to have a lot of fun, even if a huge portion of what he does is just chase the slimes around. At least, that's most of what I see, the few times we've seen him so far.
A pang of envy hits me. Envy at Max's abilities and Level. He doesn't need to couple multiple boosts to Experience to go up quickly. He's got the skills required for it, and an array of magical abilities, from what I've seen.
He's simply strong.
And he can take physical hits, too. Brandon said he's talked with Lord Dark of Water, patron of rogues, and that arriving without a defense stat isn't unheard of. According to him, the only way for us to acquire Endurance or Willpower is either through a Class that grants it, or something massive happening.
Massive enough I'd probably die from the damage with no chance at survival.
That depresses me, so I return my attention back to the ground as I make my way to the City with Brandon. Best not to look at Max, or my envy and jealousy will just keep rising.
"Oooh!" I hear Max call out. "Braden-friend! Come here!"
Against my will, I look over at Max, who's standing upright, eyes wide and filled with energy, his tail wagging. There are about twenty of the special Holiday Slimes gathered around him, along with a Flame Slime that keeps hitting him with bursts of fire.
Um… I'd rather not.
"Come here!" He calls again, waving a hand.
Why is he bare-chested? Is it so he doesn't ruin his tunics?
I shake my head. How is he able to take that much damage? Those things keep hitting him, but his Health isn't even changing. There's no way his Endurance or Willpower or whatever it is that's used to resist the attacks of slimes is high enough for that. Right?
"Bad slimies!" Max scolds the slimes. "Me try talk to Braden-friend! Go away!"
Then, he launches into punches and kicks, with bits of Fireballs and what I'm pretty sure is a Waterball or two thrown in, and the slimes all either die or scatter. As soon as that happens, Max drops down and runs on all fours until he reaches us.
"Why you no come talk?" He pouts as he stands back up. "Max want talk with Braden-friend!"
"Because you were surrounded by monsters, Max," Brandon says, and Max pouts even more. "Do you have some sort of defensive potion active?"
Max grins, his tail wagging even more.
"I suppose you have enough money for that," Brandon chuckles. "With how much of these money slimes you've been killing."
Oh, a defensive potion. That must have increased his Endurance and Willpower temporarily. That would explain how he was taking all of those hits. I guess he's had an unfair advantage, hunting the money slimes.
"Max train more, now!" Max exclaims, then takes off.
He's too hyper for me. Maybe Zack has a way of controlling his energy? Because otherwise, I can't see a way for Max to really work on a team.
What did he want to talk about?
"Come on," Brandon tells me. "Let's finish heading back. If you want to give up hunting goblins for a day, we can come out here on your last day and have you hunt money slimes for some money. You'll need a bit more Intellect first, though."
"Okay," I say.
----------------------------------------
(Luca)
Yes! Finally! We are doooooooone being in those dark, cramped mines. Seven days felt like forever. Even knowing that Mr. Zack was somewhere nearby, I was still nervous and scared. I did see him a few times, though. We had dinner or breakfast with Mr. Zack and Sir Nik a couple of times.
And finally, Sir Travis has led me out of those very confusing mines. Now, he's flying me back home, and as I look below, I think the snow's melted a bit more. Looking up to the sky, I see it's filled with dark grey storm clouds. We'll probably get more snow tonight or sometime in the next few days.
Will it be the last snow of the season? Or will we get another before winter finally leaves us for spring?
Before I know it, we're back in Maelnor, and Sir Travis takes me to my house, where the others are all sitting. They've all gained at least two Levels. Mr. Zack's not here, but I think I overheard him talking with Sir Nik about doing something before coming home, so he might be a little bit longer.
Gavin's Level 3, now, while Braden is Level 11. He's advanced his Tier. I'm jealous, I'm only Level 2. Max is Max. As always. Level 8, but I'm pretty sure he's pretty strong, considering what his Health and Mana are. Just how much damage did he take while we were gone to raise it that high?
Goofball.
"Yay!" Max exclaims. "Everyone be here!"
"Zack's not here," Gavin says, and he sounds annoyed.
"Boss be by earlier," Max nods. "Said he be do something important. No tell Max what. Give Max reward for complete quest!"
Mr. Zack already came by? How did he get here faster?
"Reward?" Gavin asks.
"Yes!" Max nods. "Ooh! Boss say 'give others reward, too!' Then Boss gave Max knives!"
Knives?
Max pulls out four knives that are identical, other than runes etched just above their hilts.
"This one be for Luca-friend!" Max hands me one of the knives and its sheath. "This one be for Braden-friend!" He hands Braden one of them. "And this one be for Gavin-friend!" He gives Gavin a knife. "This one be Max's!"
Max holds up the last knife happily, before fixing it to his belt.
"Boss say 'good job' and give lots of headpats!" Max's tail is wagging. I want to touch it. "And scratch Max ears! Max's ears! Then he leave!"
Oh, right, Mr. Zack probably warped through the Dark Temple's sigil. Sir Travis flew me back because I asked him to. I wanted to fly through the sky. I can't wait until I'm a high enough Level to obtain wings.
I inspect the knife. It looks like a normal knife, but this is Mr. Zack we're talking about. He wouldn't give us normal knives with our names etched into them as a reward for something. They have a strange, metallic grey color to them, too, rather than simply being silvery or steelish. Hm.
Thinking about Mr. Zack, I figure out what these knives are. The others probably don't know because of their newness and what's happened, and Mr. Zack probably doesn't want to tell them, because of Braden. My brother, not our new Braden.
Giving us these knives – no, having them made for us – tells me that Mr. Zack is starting to heal, just a little, from what happened. Maybe. He's protective, and the knives are here for us, for when he isn't around.
"So we finish our training, and get knives?" Gavin asks in annoyance as Braden quietly fixes his knife to his belt and checks it a few times. "I've not even been trained with one!"
"Boss be good!" Max nods happily, either unaware of or ignoring Gavin's angry attitude.
"Luca's a healer!" Gavin gestures to me. "What's he going to do with a knife?"
Poke things. I might even poke you, you continue to be mad about Mr. Zack. He is the greatest thing to ever exist, and he would do anything to help his teammates and any friends and allies of his. And he bears a burden and a weight heavier than any you could ever dream of carrying.
Shaking my head, I come to a decision as Gavin continues to argue with Max. They need to know this. I need to show them this.
I tap the butt of my staff into the ground, getting everyone's attention.
"Come with me."
I turn and start walking, and hear Max following me, asking where we're going and if we need a picnic. Braden and Gavin follow, too.
I lead them through town, wanting to show them something. The sparkles aren't there this time, but I remember the way to that hidden park, to the hidden section of woods in Maelnor. When we reach it, the trees have already budded, with pink and blue and purple buds. It looks almost majestic, now.
Showing them this is important, especially for Gavin.