(Luca)

I accidentally let out a squeal of excitement when I see it. It's just as Lord Zack described! A sort of cross between a bear and a ram, with curled ram's horns on its head, and thick, fluffy, pink fluff with some white in it covering its body! Its black eyes fix on me after my squeal, but I don't care!

"Lord Zack!" I point at it. "We found one!"

It's standing on the edge of the cliff we were walking along on our way north, and I think it's trying to decide if it wants to attack us or not.

Fluffy Monavar Level 2 Health: 9,487 Mana: 1,782

"GEEEYA!" I exclaim again. "It's so fluffy! I'm killing it!"

Lord Zack said I could handle one when I was still newish, back when Braden appeared! That means I can definitely handle it now!

I run forward, and the Fluffy Monavar charges towards me as well, lowering its head. Gyah! It's fast! Using my staff, I swing at the monster as I step to the side. As I whack it over the head, which isn't as effective as I was hoping, I notice that Lord Zack seems bewildered by something. Did he not see it in his sight? Oh, well! Me time!

No matter how many times I whack this thing, it won't take any damage. I'm just not strong enough! How did Lord Zack expect me to beat this thing?

Ooooh. He was just teasing Braden, he didn't actually expect me to be able to fight it, he was just screwing with Braden when he arrived. That makes a lot more sense.

Well, no more staff-bashing for this thing! I aim my staff at it and manifest an Ice Lance, firing it. It strikes the Fluffy Monavar in the side, causing it to stumble, and I release several others. I could ask Max for his fire attacks, since Lord Zack said they're effective against it, but I wanna kill it, myself!

After a few more Ice Lances, I manage to kill the Fluffy Monavar, then I run over to it and poke it with my staff, just to make sure it's not hiding its Status. Kylie and I met a monster in the mines that could do that.

It made us think it was dead, then attacked us from behind. It should have aimed for my head, not my back. My cloak is tough! Okay, so maybe the lack of an Experience notification should have told us it wasn't dead, but whatever. Since all of my Classes are maxed-out for their Tier, I'm not getting Experience notifications right now, so with the Fluffy Monavar, I have to make sure.

Okay, so maybe I received loot… but still! I have to make absolutely, one hundred percent, sure!

+1 bucket of cotton candy +1 bundle of Fluffy Monavar fur

"It's dead!" I declare, then look at Lord Zack. "Is cotton candy food?"

"Yes," he looks exasperated for some reason. "Big S! Stop laughing and answer the question!"

"Is it delicious?" I ask as I pull it out of my Inventory. "It feels weird."

"It's going to leave a residue on anything it touches," he tells me. "You might like it. I don't. Big S! Seriously! What the hell?"

"What is wrong?" Braden asks Lord Zack. "Did something happen?"

"Yes!" Lord Zack points at the Fluffy Monavar. "I made that up when I told you about it, Braden! It doesn't exist! That means Big S made it specifically to screw with me! Yes, you did! Don't give me that, I know you did!"

"Boss?" Max asks, and Lord Zack looks at him. "The Boundary be border between reality and fantasy, right? That means that made up stuff can come to life here?"

"After going through a filter," Lord Zack nods. "To prevent certain things from arriving in the Boundaries. But only two people knowing about it and believing in it shouldn't have made it happen, even if they're both demigods. Plus, Braden figured out that I had made it up after getting to know me more. Stop cackling in my head!"

If you had made it up, then it wouldn't be here. Oh, this is okay. Not the best of candies, but I've had worse. I think. It's definitely not a Spook Treat, though. Those things are delicious, and I really hope I manage to succeed in convincing Lord Zack to give me another one soon.

Maybe I should directly ask him, rather than give him begging eyes a lot and subtle nudges towards them?

No, Luca! Don't do that! Lord Zack will just make you suffer longer!

"Big Flame, please bop him on the head," Lord Zack says with exasperation, then looks at the rest of us. "Let's keep moving, we're an hour from the next City. It's going to keep getting colder, the arctic forest isn't far beyond that."

My cloak will keep me warm, and Gavin has already pulled on a cloak of his own. So has Max. Braden hasn't, which is impressing me. He's more resilient to the cold than I thought.

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Lord Zack doesn't need a cloak or coat to keep warm, because he is awesome. I bet the cold just looks at him, then goes 'nah, not ever' and leaves him alone.

Since I'm a bit exhausted from my fight and the three hours of walking I've done since lunch, I climb onto Max's back and hold him tight. I switch who carries me each day, and today is Max's day. I mostly just switch between him and Gavin.

Lord Zack would probably carry me if I wanted him to, but I haven't asked. I'm scared that now that he's not stressed out all the time, he'll tickle my sides while carrying me, which would make me fall off of him as I giggle and try to get him to stop while protecting my sides. I don't want to do that!

We eventually reach the City without any further attacks, and Lord Zack leads us to the center, Braden and Gavin killing a handful of goblins on our way. At the center, we stop as Zack approaches the Avatar of the Shadow of Life. This one is dressed in regular armor, so probably a knight-type.

Lord Zack draws his sword and attacks, cutting through the avatar's sword as it attempts to block his attack. He continues attacking, delivering strike after strike after strike, blow after blow, before finally killing it.

Once he does, he sheathes his sword and places a hand on the Enchanted Altar as the monster fades away. The altar begins to light up, then Zack moves back as the City Barrier Restoration happens.

"You guys take care of what's here and on the way to where we'll be staying," Lord Zack tells us the usual. "I'll go handle the rest of the City."

He always goes off to handle the rest of the City's monsters, since we decided against it. He does it mostly to just clean up the Cities, even if it's not really necessary. Meanwhile, we'll kill the monsters around here and on our way to a place that looks usable, then he'll meet up with us. By then, we're usually already taking a bath, so he cooks us dinner. Then, we eat, and after, he'll take a bath, before climbing up on the roof to relax.

It's a good pattern. I like it. I wish I didn't get scared of falling off the roofs, or I'd probably join him up there. I know he'd catch me, but I don't want to do that anyway. I'm too much of a scaredy-cat.

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(Zack)

As I kill the last monster in the City, I feel eyes upon me. When I look around, I find nothing here, not within my five senses. This is a different sense, one similar to my sight. Ah, I see what's happening.

Now that I've realized what's going on, it's easy for me to locate the source, a spot in the air around ten feet away, hovering over the street near a building.

"Yo!" I wave, forcing my own power against it and shutting off Bryce's sight. "Ha! Take that, Bryce!"

I can just imagine him laughing at me shutting him out like that. Even now, I still have visions where I look right at my dream self and shut off the vision, and as I suspected, it wasn't actually me I was shutting out. I'm guessing that even then, the future me was sensing Bryce watching, and I was simply hijacking the same spot and moment.

Just one of many signs that it was Bryce and me who were the brothers of the vision and not someone else. I knew it was someone viewing me, but hadn't considered it was Bryce doing it. My visions at those times, where I shut it out, were simply my sight latching onto him checking on me while we were doing this.

I activate my sight and find him walking along the outside wall of a City, dressed in just a pair of shorts with his weapons equipped, tunic slung over his shoulder, the sun bearing down on him. It looks like he's in a warmer area, because he's sweating lightly just walking down the street, and I can see the heat mirages off in the distance. He has a waterskin in one hand, and was taking a drink when I saw him.

Bryce gives me a peace sign before shutting me out. Yup! Two can play at that game!

As I start to turn in the direction my team is, I detect a familiar presence. One I've only recently learned to identify.

Turning, I face another simple avatar of Alexander's and give it a hard glare.

"The fuck you want, asshole?" I ask.

"To talk, Zack," he says. "Could you please stop killing these? It's difficult enough to make them."

"You seem to have made plenty of avatars just fine."

"Those are different," he shakes his head. "I infused a portion of my essence into the air around the altars, let them mature on their own. It was a process which took several years. Those are limited in what they can do and how much I can control them. These, I control fully, and can create in moments, even if they aren't easy. It takes a sizable amount of mana to create these avatars from within my prison."

"Fuck off," I fling my knife at him, and he catches it, then tosses it back to me. "What, not trying to kill me anymore? Just leaving it to the avatars guarding the altars and Fallen Cities? They're woefully inadequate, as you've noticed."

"These forms aren't combat ones," he says. "If you hadn't thrown that knife lazily, I wouldn't have managed to catch it. I just want to talk."

"Sure you do," I say. "You know I'm not going to join you, Alexander. Why do you keep trying? Fuck off."

"Prophecies cannot be diverted," he says. "But visions can, Zack. It is only because I have not attacked Bryce that he has survived so far."

"Ha!" I laugh. "I'm betting you tried that and remembered that he's my brother on my father's side."

A tic works in his jaw, and I know I'm right.

"You know I can see his Status in a vision, right?" I ask. "If I'm actually trying. He was Level 84 when I last looked at him."

I just hope he minds his Power Jump ratio, since he'll be surrounded by monsters.

"If I don't keep stalling," I say. "And actually return to training and slaughtering the tough ones that I could by deviating from the path, Alexander, I could surpass his own Leveling. Based on my estimates, I'm sure that even if you didn't attack him, he'd reach my Level in just three or four months. Out here, monsters are tougher, and tougher monsters are more numerous. It's perfect for boys like Bryce and me, and you know how tough we are to kill intentionally. Killing Bryce the first time was pure luck."

"I notice you haven't killed me yet," he says. "Does that mean you're willing to listen?"

"Nah," I answer. "Actually, I'm trying to decide how to kill you. I have plenty of weapons and Skills to use. I've narrowed it down to Zack's Blood, the spear, and a Wind Spike. Decided to give it a little more variety than just stabbing you with my sword or knife."

He gives me a stunned look.

"What?" I ask. "You really think I'd tolerate you? I'm not going to join you, Alexander. Give it up."

I pull out Zack Blood, the spear, and swiftly skewer him. His form fades away, and I return the spear to my Inventory. At least he's focusing on converting me rather than attempting to take out my team. Then again, he's learned that attacks on my team will always fail, no matter what.

Why is he so insistent on trying to convince me to join him? He knows I won't, no matter what. Idiot. Even Gavin would be able to see this.