Zalan looked in wonder at the world beyond the walls, now that he had a time to appreciate it. The immediate area was sparsely populated by trees and bushes, mounds of sand in the distance, and perhaps even an oasis if he peered far enough. He couldn’t see any animals in the immediate area, but there was plenty of evidence of things living just beyond the walls. Tiny prints and trails in all directions on the well-worn path they followed. Zalan suddenly looked back and realized that the Flamestriker’s body had been cleared overnight. He began looking around at the mounds to see if there were any more Flamestrikers ready to begin hunting them.

“Hey, Rep,” Zalan asked, wary of his surroundings as they made their way across the hot plains, “is Level Three a high Level?”

“Not at all, it is a rather low Level.” Rep shook his head.

“Then was it easy to get an Elemental? You said it was a six month journey. You were able to survive outside the walls for a while,” Zalan pointed out.

“Well, I did it much like you are,” Rep explained.

“What do you mean?”

“I went with someone more experienced. Sir Kilile, back when he was still a part of the guild. He guided me and another and taught me much of what I know today. I learned much of what I do about Artifacts by asking him many questions about them. But, I certainly would have died if I was alone during my journey to see the Elemental. I was only Level Two at the time,” Rep said.

“Oh, that makes a lot of sense,” Zalan said.

“What do you mean?” Rep said, curious by Zalan’s tone.

“Well…” Zalan tried to measure his words. “I don’t exactly remember you having an easy time with the Flamestiker.”

“That is hardly fair!” Rep said a little too quickly. “As if you had a much easier time!”

“Hey, I’ve never been in a fight before!” Zalan noted, gesturing to himself innocently. “I’m just saying you haven’t exactly made the strongest impression.”

“Yes, indeed, well, Flamestrikers are not exactly simple creatures to face. We were both out of our element.”

“Sure, this definitely wasn’t a case of you being weak,” Zalan said sarcastically.

“I am serious,” Rep insisted.

“I totally understa-AHHHH!” Zalan jumped backward. He frantically slapped his arm at his side to pull out his sword erratically.

“What? What?” Rep pulled his own sword out and ignited a flame in his other hand. “What is it, Zalan?”

“Those! Those things!” Zalan pointed further with his sword, taking a step back.

Rep turned and took a closer look. Not far from them, less than fifty feet away, a small swarm of large insectoid creatures were gathered above a small hole in the ground. They looked like giant cockroaches, the size of large dogs. Zalan shuddered at them as they crawled over one another, their tall antennae twitching wildly. They had small hairy legs and a lightly armored hide, as well as orange eyes and mandibles that were snapping frantically. The sickly, orange eyes seemed mindless, searching in all directions. To Zalan’s relief, none of them seemed to take notice of Rep or Zalan.

“Excellent catch!” Rep said excitedly. “Those are Roaches!”

“Oh God,” Zalan swallowed nauseously. “I hate cockroaches so much. These are so big! Burn them all!!”

“Not cockroaches. Roaches. And I will not burn them. This is an excellent opportunity to fight your first creature with your sword!” Rep said.

“I’m not touching those things!” Zalan said firmly.

“You will not have to touch them. You only need to strike them with your sword. They are defeated quite easily.”

Zalan just stared at the Roaches skitter over one another, inching away from them and trying to ignore all the little noises their hairy little feet made against the sand. Every little sound drove a shiver through his nerves.

“Zalan?” Rep asked.

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“Just burn them. I hate them so much, just looking at them…” Zalan shuddered once more.

“Zalan, no, I think this is a good opportunity,” Rep began.

“Rep! Shoot fire at them!” Zalan demanded.

“Very well,” Rep said, smiling.

Rep let out a tiny wisp of flame that licked the antennae of the Roach closest to them. It snapped in their direction and began skittering in short bursts toward them, taking breaks every few feet. Zalan jumped away.

“Rep! You didn’t kill it! Rep!” Zalan said, flailing his sword in front of him as the Roach closed the gap in its quick runs.

“Take aim, Zalan!” Rep said, excited. “Swing with full force and it will die as soon as you strike it!”

“Rep! Rep kill it!” Zalan shrieked.

The Roach was right in front of Zalan, in perfect distance for him to strike with his sword. The Roach began to move and Zalan roared in disgust and frustration and swung his sword straight down. He missed the Roach’s torso he was aiming for, but was able to strike at leg, tearing it clean off. The Roach let out a tiny, high-pitched squeal.

“Ah! Rep! I hate it! I hate the noise it makes and—AH!”

The Roach sprung forward in retaliation, only to be split in two by a decisive strike by Rep. Zalan was breathing hard, stepping away from the Roach.

“Rep!” Zalan snapped.

“This was good! Imagine if it had been a more dangerous beast! Now we know you are completely devoid of any talent with the sword,” Rep said energetically, an encouraging smile on his face.

“That was awful!” Zalan countered.

“Hardly.” Rep waved away Zalan’s complaint. “You must learn to concentrate even when you are in a panicked state.”

Zalan understood the rationality, despite his heart running rampant against his chest. He breathed deeply and grit his teeth.

“Are there any other creatures we could practice on?” Zalan asked uneasily.

“None,” Rep assured him. “These are the simplest. You must have full control when fighting others. Imagine we have to face down another wandering Flamestriker. We are too far from the walls to be able to get help this time.”

Zalan looked back at the nest of Roaches. He shivered.

“I hate this. Fine. I hate it so much,” Zalan murmured quickly. “Don’t let them touch me, but send them over. I’ll learn how to destroy these things. Obliterate them. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to keep my composure around these things.”

“That is fine by me,” Rep said, sending out another small stream of flame to attract two Roaches this time.

“That’s too many!” Zalan said immediately. “Rep!”

“Try and kill one on your own this time!” Rep coached.

The two Roaches began to flank Zalan. He screamed and swung his sword wildly, splitting one of the creatures clean with a bilious crunch. Zalan recoiled at the sound, feeling sick.

“I got one—AH, NO!” Zalan yelped as the other one bit into his leg. The mandibles burned against his body, the Roach aggressively gnawing at him. He screamed in disgust and kicked it away, then ran forward in anger and slashed shallowly at its torso. The cut wasn’t deep enough to kill it and Rep finished it off with a flame while it squealed at Zalan in protest.

“It got me,” Zalan moaned, rolling up his pant leg. “It’s over, Rep. It got me good.”

Rep looked over with amusement. There wasn’t even blood drawn by the bite, hardly a mark was left by the Roach. Zalan rubbed sand on the wound as if to disinfect the bite, rubbing until his skin went pink.

“Zalan, you are fine,” Rep said, smiling.

“I hate them,” Zalan grumbled.

“But you can kill one now,” Rep encouraged.

“Yeah… Yeah, I guess I can,” Zalan stood straight with a hint of pride. He looked up and flinched when he saw the remaining roaches all turned toward him. “W-What are they doing?”

“You screamed considerably loudly when the Roach bit you. I believe they have taken notice of us, now,” Rep said. “Roll your pants back down, they will draw blood if they are able to strike skin directly.”

The remaining ten Roaches all began to move as one, each one skittering toward Rep and Zalan. Zalan quickly rolled his pants out and took a step away, fully disgusted.

“Can you burn them now? This is way too many!” Zalan pleaded, struggling not to look away from the scene of the skittering feet racing toward them.

“We will be fine. Kick them away if they get too close,” Rep said.

“I don’t want to touch them!”

“Then kill them with your sword first.”

Zalan glared at Rep, but only for a moment before he brought his full attention back to the Roaches. They were upon the two of them now, and Rep kicked one toward Zalan, trying to get his companion to take on the entire nest of Roaches. Zalan stabbed downward and was able to kill one immediately. He swung again and was able to slice another clean through, slashing the creature in two. Breathing hard with raging glee as it became immobile, Zalan began moving faster. Every swing of his sword began to feel like an extension of his arm. He missed a few swings, but Rep continued to encourage him no matter how badly he missed.

But just as he was feeling confident in his abilities, he was bitten on both shins and fell backward, his sword dropping away from his grasp.

“Zalan!” Rep called, concerned.

“Rep! Burn them all! Burn me! Get them off!” Zalan was flailing, each swing of his arms or legs bashing another creature that brought him such visceral disgust.

“I cannot burn them! They are too close to you!” Rep said urgently.

“Then do something!” Zalan saw the hair of a Roach’s leg stomp down right in front of his head. He turned with wide eyes to see mandibles snap once in anticipation. Then the Roach lurched forward.

Zalan screamed as the creature bit into his forehead.