(Braden)

"Max," I say as we camp out in a building, and he gives me a curious look. "Do you have a Tier 3 Skill to advance Elementalist?"

"No yet," he shakes his head, then frowns. "Not yet. Me learn Flame Lance with next group. Kill lots of gobbies!"

"Alright," I say. "Make sure to take it on, alright?"

"Yes, Braden!" He says. "What be you doing? You said you be take Elementalist Level 25. You be Level 25."

"Yeah," I nod. "I'm trying to think of what to do. I mostly want it to augment my Wisdom and Intellect to increase my Mana and magical power. However, I need to think rationally on what to learn. You are a fire-based Elementalist, so going that route would probably be redundant."

Max frowns, and I realize that he probably didn't know that word.

"But Max be learn fire, water, earth, and air elements," he says. "So you learn any of those be redundant, Braden."

"You know what redundant means?" I ask in surprise.

"Duh," he says. "It means repeated. Redundant be repetitive. You not need be worry 'bout redundancy, Braden. It be okay. Max be the real Elementalist. And a Dark Knight, once me hit Level 25!"

I continue to think on what element I should take on as we rest. Max has a point about that – he uses all of the elements. At least, those four. He doesn't use ice or lightning, so those are a possibility, but he'll probably learn them later, too. Especially if I start using them. But what are the Skills for them?

"Max," I say. "What are the base Skills for ice elementalists and for lightning elementalists?"

"Max not know for ice," he thinks for a moment. "But lightning be zzzzt! So Max know those. Old master like shock Max. Not fun. That be Electric Spike. Be spike made of electricity or lightning. Something like that. Not very fun at all. But you no strong enough hurt me, so it be okay. Learn it, Braden!"

"Huh?" I ask.

"Electric Spike!" He scrambles to his feet, then thumps his chest. Then he frowns and hurriedly pulls off his tunic. "Use Electric Spike! Learn it! You be lightning elementalist! Max learn it later."

"Why'd you take off your tunic?" I ask.

I want muscles like those. I guess he got them from running around all the time.

"So you not damage it with Electric Spike, duh!"

"I'm not attacking you."

"What be your Intellect?" Max asks.

"I have 32 Intellect," I answer. "But-"

"Max be have 35 Willpower," Max says. "And Tier 1 Elementalist Skills only do 20% of Intellect as damage per Level of the Skill, so that only be 7 Intellect in the power. That nowhere near enough hurt Max. So it be fine. Maybe tingle, but fine!"

I'm about to protest again when I realize that Max looks afraid. He mentioned his previous master would use it on him sometimes. Is he offering to let me learn it on him rather than in a fight so that he can try to deal with it?

"Alright," I stand, shakily aiming my hand at Max.

I don't want to do this, but he's right in that it's better to learn it now than in a fight. Do I have to hit him with it, though? But if I hit something else, it might damage the building, and-

I shake my head, then focus on manifesting the Skill, listening to what I remember Zack's instructions to Max were for elemental Skills. He's talked with Max about a few different ones, but this shouldn't be too different.

"Electric Spike!" I say, and a thin spike of electrical power around a foot in length forms, then zips at Max.

It strikes him in the chest, and he yelps. For a moment, I think he's hurt, but then he touches his undamaged chest.

"Whew!" He lets out a sigh of relief. "That be good. Me no hurt. Sure not happen, but not sure. Master always hurt Max with that. Boss not mean like that. He hurt Max, but only as training, and not to be mean. Helps Max build Endurance and Vitality!"

As he reassures himself that he's fine, I read the notice.

New Skill! Electric Spike Active Throw a spike of lightning at your foes. Damage: 20% of your Intellect per Level of this Skilll Cost: 20 Mana

So are all Tier 1 Elementalist Skills just variations of the same thing, with the same damage ability and Mana cost?

As I dismiss that, I notice Max poking his abs.

"Braden!" He exclaims, tail wagging. "Lookit! Me have abs!"

They're not completely defined, but enough to be noticeable. Mine are yet to reach that stage. I'm jealous.

"That's because you're eating right and exercising regularly," I tell him.

"Yay!" He exclaims. "Braden now have Electric Spike, you be take on Novice Elementalist now."

He's saying that I need to take it on, and it takes me a moment to remember that he has Appraisal, so he noticed my Mana didn't increase. I nod, then take it on. Oh, it increases things by 2 Intellect and 1 Wisdom, I thought it was the other way around.

"My turn!" Max exclaims, then rushes out of the house. I quickly follow him, as it means he's spotted something. "Flame Lance!"

Before I can spot his target, he's already manifested a lance six feet in length, forged of pure, orange-and-yellow flames, with only touches of red at the edges.

"Die!" He exclaims, throwing the lance, and I spot the trio of Goblin Archers he'd spotted.

He throws two more Flame Lances in rapid succession, and they pierce the goblins before the monsters can evade, killing all three.

"Whoo!" Max exclaims. "Level up!"

"Good job," I tell him. "If you can reach Level 25 before the challenge ends, Zack might scratch behind your ears."

"Whoo!" Max exclaims, his tail wagging even harder. "Four more Levels! Max can do that, yes, me can! Whoo!"

He is way too excited over getting his ears scratched. I suppose considering what he is, plus being starved of positive attention until he met Zack, is the source of this. Gold admitted to me that he's the same way, but is trying not to be. However, he also said that when Zack's around, he can't help it sometimes and wants praise.

Heh. Gold also said that Max's desire to have his tail rubbed is something unique to the wolf beastborn – that dog beastborn aren't really appreciative of it. It doesn't have the same effect as a scratch behind the ears for them like it does for the wolf beastborn.

"Come on," I tell Max. "Let's go look for more monsters."

"Yeah!" Max follows me as we hunt down another group of monsters.

It isn't long before we come across a group of five slimes. Two Heal Slimes and three Earth Slimes.

"Let me handle this one, Max," I tell him as the slimes start hopping closer so that they're in range of us.

"But Max needs Experience!" Max whines.

"Your attacks are stronger than mine," I remind him as I hold up my right hand. "So I need to fight the weaker things. You can act against the things my attacks won't do anything against, okay?"

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"But Braden's attacks won't hurt the slimies anyway?" He looks confused, and I sigh.

"Just let me get some hits in before you kill them."

"Okay!"

"Electric Spike," I trigger the Skill, then throw the attack.

I manage to hit eat slime twice before they're close enough to attack, and as soon as they are, Max takes it as his cue to kill them with a Firebomb. Then two more, because the first one's explosion didn't actually do that much to the others.

"Max," I say, and he gives me a curious look. "I also need to Level another weak Skill as well."

"Oooh," he says. "Me sorry, Braden!"

"No," I shake my head. "I mean, I'll be using a couple of weak Skills. Why don't you wait until I give the signal to attack?"

"What be the signal?" He asks, then makes several bird noises. Did he figure out how to do that just by listening to me sometimes? He had to have learned those from my training with Brandon. "Like those signals?"

"No," I shake my head. "I'll… just tell you to attack."

"Ooooh!" He says. "Okay! Me can do that! Me think. Me might get excited and attack early, though."

"That's okay," I smile. "Just try not to, okay?"

"Okay!" He says. "You attack archer gobby?"

That means there's one here, so I look around until I spot it, then draw my bow, summoning a Magic Arrow with Lightning Shot added on. The attack hits, and I strike it twice more before it manages to dip out of sight.

"Max," I say.

"Got it!" He exclaims, then charges the building, climbing up it. A moment after he disappears behind the wall of the second floor, I receive an Experience notification and he pops his head back up. "It be dead!"

Max and I spend three hours wandering the areas where Luca and Gavin would have traveled, falling into a routine of me attacking first, doing no damage or little damage, then Max attacking and killing things. We do this even against the monsters that are too strong for me to do any damage to at all, no matter how hard I try.

While I might not be able to hurt a Level 5 Chocolate Slime, and Max might barely be able to harm it, that's decent Experience for both of us. Or at least, for my Skills and for Max. I'm not getting any Experience from things I'm not actually doing damage to.

The closer we travel to the border of the challenge zone, the more monsters there are wandering around, making it tougher for us, to the point where we can barely go five to eight minutes without a fight.

Which makes it perfect for acquiring Experience. By the time we pull back, believing ourselves to be ready for what is to come, I've reached Level 10 Novice Elementalist, and Max might be a Dark Squire. Lightning Shot is now Level 4, as is Electric Ball.

So Max and I pull back, making our way to the nearest spot on our map marked for one of our team's banners. Once we're near it, we camp out in a building after making sure it's empty of monsters, then sit down for lunch.

Bread, jerky, and fruit. Not the best, but it'll do.

As we eat, I pull up my Status, to check my current stats.

Character Information Dark of Water Name: Braden Primary Class: Ranger Level: 37 Unavailable: Unavailable Title: None Unavailable: Unavailable Health: 260/260 Mana: 740/740 Strength: 23 Intellect: 58 Endurance: 0 Willpower: 18 Vitality: 26 Wisdom: 74 Agility: 56 Perception: 107

My regular Magic Arrow now deals 35 Damage per hit, while using Lightning Shot increases that to 67 Damage. Add on Power Shot, and that becomes 84 Damage. It's nowhere near what Max can do, but is still decent, especially for how little time I've been here in the Boundary.

This must be the effects of power training.

We have two days left here in Talorn, before we return to Maelnor so that Zack can prepare for the fight with the Greed Lord. Will it be possible to reach Level 50 in that time? Might I even manage to bring Ranger up to its Fifth Tier?

Before we go up against the banner's guards, I should know what Max's stats are, so that we can know for sure if it's something we can handle or not.

"Max," I say. "Can I see your Status?"

"Sure!"

Character Information Dark of Fire Name: Max Primary Class: Elementalist Level: 28 Unavailable: Unavailable Title: None Unavailable: Unavailable Health: 280/280 Mana: 810/810 Strength: 31 Intellect: 141 Endurance: 26 Willpower: 48 Vitality: 28 Wisdom: 81 Agility: 61 Perception: 61

Erm. I guess he's definitely able to handle things. His Fireball is Level 8, I believe, so that means it would do… 226 Damage. Even his Static Spike, which he's only brought to Level 2, does 54 Damage. Mine only does 46 Damage, and it's at Level 4.

Then there's Max's Flame Lance, which apparently deals 100% of his Intellect per Level for Damage, though it takes 100 Mana each, so it's not something he can spam. It's at Level 2, based on his cheers when things go up. That makes it his most powerful Skill at the moment, with a total of 282 Damage.

Which means it can inflict the Burn Status, too. If I remember correctly, Burn Damage, if not listed as an effect in a Skill, is equal to ten percent of the Skill's damage.

Then there's lightning Skills. If he went up to 150 Intellect and learned a Tier 3 lightning Elementalist Skill, or a Tier 2 one and brought it up to Level 2, then he could inflict Stun as well. Without that, he'd need those up one more Level.

"Max," I decide to check something. "Did you take on Dark Squire? It's not set to your Primary Class."

"It be need Swords Mastery, Rage, and Intimidate," Max tells me, his tail wagging. "Me only have Intimidate. Boss be teach Swords Master when we finish. Me going to ask him. But me not sure if me able get angry enough acquire Rage."

Good point, he's way too cheerful and hyper, I can't really see him getting angry.

We finish eating lunch, then rest a few more minutes before traveling to the spot where one of our banners rests. It's guarded by a pair of Goblin Giants and around eighty goblins and twenty slimes.

Wonderful.

"Max," I say. "Those Goblin Giants are tough – each one will probably require you to use half of your Mana to kill if you use Flame Lance. The plan with them is that you'll kill one. I'll work on the weaker monsters, you retreat and recover at least twenty-five percent more of your Mana, then attack the other Goblin Giant and kill it. After that, help me with the weaker ones, okay?"

"Okay!"

"Wait until my signal," I tell him. "Then attack. Let me get into position first."

"What be signal?" He asks, thankfully not making bird noises this time.

"I'll shoot one of the goblins," I tell him. "Keep an eye out for the green arrows."

He nods, then I climb up the building and sneak across several more until I'm at a good vantage point, out of the range of any of the ones below. There are a few archers, but I'll be able to handle those, should they target me.

Actually, I have a good line of sight on one of them, so I draw my bow, aiming carefully, then I fire. The arrow zips across the air, nailing the archer in the eye.

Before I can finish aiming a second arrow, I'm informed that Max saw the shot, even though it was above the goblins he was probably watching. That message comes in the form of a trio of Flame Lances shooting from out of my sight, slamming into one of the Goblin Giants.

Good job, Max.

A fourth Flame Lance shoots the same one as I shoot down another Goblin Archer, then I readjust my aim to the one that's targeting Max. The others are still looking around, trying to spot him. Idiot goblins.

I kill the third one as the fifth Flame Lance strikes the Goblin Giant, then it begins to topple, its Health depleted. We can definitely handle the other fight, it would only take four to kill that one, and it's the only giant there. The other Goblin Giant here would probably take another Flame Lance, which tells me Max probably judged which one to hit.

That, or he just targeted at random and got lucky on that.

As I continue taking out the archers, confident Max can handle the monsters beginning to head this way, a couple of small objects fly from the direction he's in, and when they land in the group of monsters, clouds of green smoke billow out.

The poison cloud bombs. He threw two of them, poisoning the goblins that came closest to him. It only takes a few moments for a wind to blow the clouds away, dispersing them, and I spot the Air Slimes doing that.

So they're intelligent enough for that. Surprising, considering Intellect doesn't actually affect intelligence.

Even though it was less than ten seconds later, Max is already out of their sight, based on the confused looks the goblins are giving.

It will take ten minutes for him to recover his missing Mana. While we're waiting, I can take out all of the archers, and with what Mana remains, some of the weaker goblins. Maybe some of the slimes, too.

I have to be careful, though, not to use up all of my Mana. I want to have at least a quarter of it remaining at all times, in case of an emergency. Especially with how wild Max can be. If I need to suddenly rescue him with a hail of arrows, I need to be ready for that.

By the time Max's Flame Lances appear again, I've taken out all of the archers and most of the slimes, and have moved to another location. This time, I can see him. He's standing on the second floor of a building with no wall facing this courtyard.

As I estimated, it takes him six Flame Lances to take out the second Goblin Giant, then he throws several Firebombs into the crowd of monsters. As he attacks from there, I keep my aim on any monsters that draw too close, as well as the archers that show up.

It takes us nearly half of an hour to kill the last of the monsters, then we both descend the buildings and meet back up. I claim the banner from the Goblin Giant that was wearing it, checking it for damage. Somehow, the banner still feels silky smooth and is only a little dirty – it's completely undamaged by the attacks that had to have struck it.

The entire plan may have fallen apart, had the Goblin Giant used the banner as armor. Just what is this made out of?

"Yay!" Max exclaims. "Levels! And banner! Four more to go!"

"Yeah," I nod. "Four more to go. And it's possible two or three will be even more difficult than this one."