(Zack)

I'm both happy and annoyed that the Forest Lord deigned to fight us. It was mentioned all the way back when I fought the first Ice Lord as being another type of special boss. I never did look into what it looked like or what it could do, since it wasn't in the areas where I would be. When it came time to prepare for departure from the valley, I hadn't remembered it, so I didn't look into it then.

The Forest Lord is essentially a bear which stands at fifteen feet in height while on its hind legs. Dark brown fur and eyes, with stone protrusions coming out of its back, shoulders, the back and top of its head, and its legs. Its tail is akin to a rope made of stone, resembling more of a lizard's than a bear's in shape and length.

Forest Lord Level 25 Health: 978,143 Mana: 890,658

That's a lot of Mana for this beast, which suggests it has plenty of spell-based attacks in addition to its physical might, which is no doubt strong. But that's fine, because I'm Zack Noruva, Level 650, and wielder of ultimate gear.

The Forest Lord roars, before slamming its front paws onto the ground. Large stones form, rising up from the ground, then launch at my team and me. I throw up a Barrier behind me, the shimmering violet spell protecting my team from the attacks as I allow one of the rocks to strike me, stopping the others.

No damage at all, which means I can handle that.

"You four retreat out of its range," I command my team as the Forest Lord rears up, then slams its paws down again, sending another wave of stones at us. "I'll handle it."

I wait for my team to retreat before I release the Barrier, then begin evading the rocks as it performs another wave.

This goes on for several waves, and I honestly could put a stop to it, but I want to see what else this monster can do.

With the eighth slam of its paws, a gut feeling tells me to jump up, so I do, managing to evade the thorns that shot up from the ground in an attempt to ensnare me. That is freaking awesome.

I land a little bit away, and the Forest Lord charges at me. I jump and flip over it, punching at its back, and stone forms in my fist's path. Were I a normal Adventurer, that would have hurt me upon contact, but instead, I crack the stone a bit.

"You're a tough one, aren't you?" I ask as the stone disappears, the Forest Lord stopping its charge to turn around, opening its mouth.

Flame Breath. Calling it now.

Fire begins to burst out of its mouth, confirming my theory. I draw my sword and cut through the flames, letting my blade absorb it due to the Spook Ore within. What makes it past my sword is drawn to my armor and absorbed in, as usual, and the Forest Lord looks stunned.

"Hi!" I greet it. "I doubt your stone can stop this sword!"

Playtime's over, I've seen a few of its tricks, and it's boring me. So I charge forward, moving faster than it can evade, and twist when I get to beside its head. I bring my sword down and swing it up, cutting through the stone which began to form to protect its neck, then through its head, then the stone coming out of the back of its neck.

The Forest Lord's head tumbles to the ground, and I assess my winnings. It's almost the same as the Ice Lord's, except with Forest Ingots instead of Frost Ingots, and the bear doesn't fade away. I'm probably meant to collect the pelt, but it's not really something I care about, especially with the end coming.

My team returns as I wait, and Max pokes the bear as Braden assess it. I can tell the Druid is trying to figure out if that's a pelt he'd want to wear, were it to meet the requirements for obtaining another Animal Form. He isn't sure if he'll reach Tier 2 Druid before the end comes, but if he does, I know he wants to try and obtain a bear form.

He decides rather fast that he doesn't want to wear a pelt like that. It's obvious by where he's looking that he's not fond of the stone protrusions, and I don't blame him. Those look strange and stupid.

"Come on," I tell them. "We shouldn't be too far from the next City. Once we're there, hot baths, hot food, and a night of rest!"

My team nods, then we return to our trip, reaching the next City after only thirty more minutes. There, we're immediately assaulted by arrows. I perform the same routine as before, stopping the arrows with a Barrier, then waiting for the assault to stop.

As soon as I does, I chase down the avatar and run my sword through it over and over until it dies. Okay, so maybe I kept stabbing it after it died, but whatever.

Just like with the first one I fought, Alexander manifests an avatar to approach me. Sighing, I look at it.

"How many times do I have to tell you 'no', Alexander?" I ask.

"I'm not going to give up," he tells me. "Bryce is destined to kill me. You are destined to help me."

"You can try over and over," I shake my head. "I'm not joining you, and I'm not helping you, Alexander. I make you this promise now: should I ever help you, it will result in your death. It will be to kill you."

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"You are not the one who will kill me," he says. "Now that I know the truth, Zack, I know that you will come around. It will just take time, and that is why I wish to speak with you."

"No!" I exclaim. "Are you a fucking moron? I will never join you. Whatever chance you had of that, you lost when you killed Bryce!"

"You brought him back."

"And Braden?" I ask. "You could have prevented A'Lutar from fighting him. Luca told me about their trip to him – it was way too fucking silent. You did that, and I know you were the one who gathered up that army of goblins to fight me that time, the one who sent all of the Fallen Adventurers into the waterways."

"Zack-"

"And all of the attempts at killing me and my team?" I interrupt. "You have no chance of making me your ally. Visions are able to be diverted. You diverted the possibility of me ever helping you, turning me into a permanent enemy. Stop trying to convert me because of that stupid little desire you have! It's not going to work!"

"The fact that you get so frustrated," he says. "And are trying to talk me out of it suggests it's working, Zack. You know-"

"No," I say. "It's suggesting that I'm frustrated by you deciding to be an eternal pest. You're a pain in the ass, Alexander, now fuck off and don't come back!"

I throw a Fireball at him, turning him to ash, then I head to the altar to restore it. After going through our normal routine of stuff after that, I take a bath while the team plays cards, Luca snacking despite having just eaten dinner.

Then my ears pick up Max, Gavin, and Braden pulling out food. They all stuffed themselves at dinner, but maybe it wasn't enough? Max, Gavin, and Braden are teens, so it makes sense their appetites might increase because of any growth spurts they might start going through.

After my own relaxing bath, I dry off and pull on my nightclothes, then head to the room my team is hanging out in and set up makeshift beds of blankets and pillows in.

"Guys," I say. "I want to talk about something with you."

"What is it?" Gavin asks as everyone looks at me, and I realize my tone was a bit too serious.

"Nothing too serious," I flash them a grin, then return to talking a little more seriously, though not as serious as I'd started. "Bryce wants to meet up."

"So you're leaving us?" Luca looks worried.

"No," I shake my head. "Actually, we have plenty of time before we meet up with him. A couple of weeks before he'd get to the meeting spot. It's not a rush thing, and I've known about it for a couple of weeks already."

"How did you two talk?" Gavin asks. "If we're in completely different places?"

"Visions," Braden answers. "They're probably looking at each other regularly. Knowing Zack, he can probably tell when Bryce is looking at him, and since they're brothers, I'm sure Bryce can, too. It wouldn't be difficult to give a message if you know you're being watched."

"That be creepy," Max whispers to Luca, who nods in agreement.

"Anyway," I say. "We have two options for this. If we continue heading west, then tomorrow, we'll enter a swamp. The meeting point is a straight shot through the swamp and would take us just two or three days at most, unless we got really delayed. Or we can walk around the swamp, going to the north.

"If we take that option," I say. "We could either skip the Cities and camp out in the forest around the swamp, or we can stay in the Cities themselves, as we've been doing. Either option there will add two or three days on to our trip."

Gavin frowns a little bit, and I can already tell his question, but let him ask it anyway rather than simply answering it.

"Why did we come south a bit, then?" He asks. "Rather than go straight west? Wouldn't our trip here have been shorter already?"

"Maybe," I shrug. "But the trip through the swamp would take around the same amount of time if we just kept going west, bypassed the swamp, and then went south."

"Zack," Braden says. "It will only take longer if we go around the swamp because you brought us down to here first."

"Yeah," I grin. "I kind of focused on meeting up with Bryce and sort of forgot that you guys might not want to go through the swamp."

Gavin groans as Max chuckles and Luca rolls his eyes. Braden, on the other hand, simply nods, accepting that.

"I did consider going around the swamp initially," I tell the team. "But then got excited about meeting Bryce and wanted to do more of a straight shot. As I said, though – we'll arrive there ahead of him either way we go.

"The main reason I'm asking first," I continue. "Is that the swamp is a wet place. We'll be walking on paths that are raised above it, but we may have to do some careful avoiding to prevent ourselves from falling into the water. If we do fall into the water, we'll have to wait until we reach the next City to properly dry off and clean up. It will be smelly, and we'll be facing a few new monsters as well. That's why I'm asking you guys first."

My team thinks it over, though I can already tell Luca's decision.

"Swamp," he says.

"Why?" Gavin asks him. "We're bound to fall into dirty water and get covered in stench. With our Perceptions, it's going to be annoying. Max and Braden will be badly affected by it. So will Zack."

"Swamp," Luca nods, and I think he just wants a change of scenery.

"Me want to fight Swamp Toads!" Max answers. "Me never got to taste froggy legs, and they sometimes drop those!"

"A change of scenery would be nice," Braden comments.

"I guess it's the swamp," Gavin gives in to the majority vote.

"Alright," I tell them. "I'm going to get some sleep. You guys enjoy whatever rest of the game you have until you head to bed, but try to get to bed within an hour, okay?"

They acknowledge my instructions, and I crawl under a blanket and try to fall asleep, thinking about a gut feeling of mine. Something tells me that the City we meet up with Bryce in, that's where the event which sets off the end will happen.

By the time he arrives there, Bryce will be Level 250. That means he'll likely Ascend once he's there. The rate at which he's doing things, I'm sure he's obtained plenty of Bonus Experience as well. If so, then he may be planning on spamming it, resulting in Power Jump after Power Jump. That would explain why he's wanting to meet up – so we can watch over him while he's dealing with Power Jump.

Will he really have enough Bonus Experience to become more powerful than me in just two weeks? Or will he make a slight detour as well?

Whatever it is, I know things are going to start to end based on something that happens there. My sight won't tell me what, but my gut says it's true. I pray to my father that everything works out well and that whatever causes Bryce to fight Alexander, it's nothing too serious.

Even if my team is going to pass on to the afterlife anyway, I want their ends to be peaceful, happy ones. I don't want them to suffer any more than they already have, especially not in this life. The rest of our time here, I want them to spend having fun and enjoying themselves.

With those thoughts in my mind, I manage to fall asleep.