Chapter 169: Elemental Shift

With noon only two hours away, the Galterran summer heat was making itself known. Perspiration caused a dampness to form on the back of Zach’s neck as the cloudless sky provided no shade or respite from the high temperature nor from the burning sun that scorched with an unprovoked vengeance. Still, Zach paid it little mind. He was far more focused on getting to Jimmy, and so were the others. But they were beginning to slow, as not all of them were able to move at quite the same pace.

At the moment, Rian was panting, and Lienne was, too. But Zach was still fine, and so was Kalana, Tena, Trelvor, and Seiley. All seven of them had been sprinting down one of the main roads in the region of Faded Island, this one in particular spanning across the middle of the huge island from the west to the east. A few minutes ago, Zach had been relieved to learn some very important details from a miraculously sobered up Jimmy, beginning with the fact that he was back in a rational state of mind and was willing to work together.

This is the last thing I thought was going to happen out here, Zach thought with a sigh. I’m going to need another vacation after what these past twenty-four hours put me through.

Zach periodically glanced at his phone to ensure he was moving in the right direction. This was his very first time ever visiting Faded Island, a region that was known to have the happiest population in all of North Bastia. Just off the western coast, the island housed something that could almost be called one gigantic pseudo-suburbia. There were no cities on Faded Island and no tall buildings. Instead, low-density communities filled with single-family homes were broken up by strip malls, shopping plazas, and other types of commercialized areas. There were also a few stretches of farmland and other more open, natural, and scenic spots to take in, such as the fields to the left and right of them as they ran off to the side of the main road.

“That’s where all the chocolate comes from, right?” Rian asked, gazing longingly at the cocoa bean farms.

“Rian, you’ve had enough chocolate in your life,” Zach muttered. “Now run faster or I’m leaving you behind.” A DEHV zipped by, blasting them with a gust of wind and moving at a speed fast enough to plainly put into focus how slow the six of them were moving in comparison. “Come on, let’s go!”

“It’s not me,” Rian said, clearly lying. “It’s Lienne. I’m only slowing down for her.” This, he said as beads of sweat rained down the front and both sides of his face.

“L-liar,” Lienne huffed, obviously struggling. “Trelvor…baby, will you buy me chocolate after we kill the boss?”

“Of course I will, my Lienne.”

Zach decided he’d buy Kalana a bunch of it too assuming this boss didn’t destroy the region or the entire world before that point, though from what he was hearing, everything seemed pretty well contained. This was good, because although she’d set it aside for now, he knew that Kalana was still really mad at him for lying to her, and though it would definitely take more than a couple of boxes of chocolate to get back on her good side, it would surely be a start. Of course, even if she wasn’t mad at him, he’d still buy them for her.

The idea of coming here to Faded Island and not buying the sweets was actually unthinkable. After all, the entire region was only able to sustain its upper-middle-class lifestyle due to being the sole exporter of all the cocoa beans used on Galterra. From what Zach had learned in school, it seemed that the nitrogen-rich soil enabled the crop’s growth, and it couldn’t be grown anywhere else. As a matter of fact, it reminded Zach that the rest of the entire world likely hadn’t gotten to taste chocolate since Peter IV.

That’s right, he thought to himself. It doesn’t grow anywhere else on this planet. That means only humans have eaten it in decades since nobody else trades with us anymore.

Thanks to its relative position of isolation respective to the rest of the world, Faded Island had been involved in very few conflicts throughout history. Its ruling guild, Children of Order, had also been its steward for as far back as history could tell, but this was also due to the guild’s total and complete rejection of any kind of expansionist philosophy, something it had consistently stuck to for all—or nearly all—of its existence. As a result, Children of Order made very few enemies, and according to history, they’d maintained their position of power here and had only ever lost control of it briefly during the height of the Brayspark monarchy. Hence, the guild became synonymous with Faded Island, and it was impossible to imagine anyone else ruling over this peaceful but mostly unspectacular region.

It's so different here from where I grew up, Zach thought.

Farmers looked on incuriously as Zach and his friends darted by. A few even waved as though recognizing him. People here didn’t seem to have all that much interaction with guild members, which was similar to how things had been all Zach’s life in Whispery Woods, only in this case, it wasn’t because the region had been abandoned and left in disrepair; rather, it was because their ruling guild, Children of Order, were known to be extraordinarily mindful of disturbing their citizens. The only other guild like that was the Royal Roses, who also prioritized values such as putting the personal liberty of their citizens above things like custom and decorum. But unlike the Royal Roses, the Children of Order did not collect any property tax and instead sourced all of their money through export fees. They also weren’t quite as unrestrictive as the Royal Roses when it came to personal morality.

Just like most guilds, the Children of Order did have some, albeit looser, laws around obscenity and lewd public conduct. The Royal Roses, on the other hand, did not even arrest people who walked around naked. If they did, they would’ve had to arrest Vim Alazar, their leader, who had nakedly and drunkenly stumbled around Giant’s Fall on so many different occasions that even guild censorship had given up trying to cover it up. It was just another quirky thing he was known for, and people in Giant’s Fall had just come to accept it. Everybody knew that, legally speaking, just about anything that didn’t involve children was fair game in Giant’s Fall. And anything that did was punishable by death. This was a universe away from Varda’s Lair, where the People of Virtue imposed a strict, formal dress code and arrested people for walking around non-beachfront or pool areas in shorts.

They even have brothels in Giant’s Fall, Zach thought, something boys in his class had always snickered about and discussed wanting to go visit. Not Zach, though. He was an angel who never said anything wrong, and if anyone ever told Kalana otherwise, he’d stab them in the face!

In a strange way, the Children of Order were similar to the adventurers in the sense that they were very unaffected by world events, and this attitude seemed to carry over, culturally speaking, to the people they governed. Right now, all throughout North Bastia, there were riots, violence, and widespread public disorder as a response to the attack on Ogre’s Axe and the broader war going on between the Guild of Gentlemen and basically everybody else. But Zach doubted any of that disorder was happening over here. Faded Island was practically disconnected from the politics of the world. Although, unlike the adventurers, they did have at least some involvement, though it was rarely anything that brought much attention or scrutiny down upon them.

“Rian, try to keep up,” Trelvor said. “Lienne, you can hop on my back if you want.”

She blew him a kiss and did exactly that, causing Rian to cock his right eyebrow at Seiley. “Not a chance,” she growled. “You should be carrying me.”

“Fucking whatever,” Rian huffed out, taking bigger and bigger breaths. “Gods, how did we end up on the completely wrong side of the island?”

“Because Fluffles bailed on us and we had no idea where to look,” Zach said, becoming disappointed. He came to a halt to let Rian rest for a moment, and the others stopped with him.

“Why did he go and ditch us, anyway?” Kalana asked. She gave Zach a way-too discerning look. “Did you or Rian do something to upset the kitty?”

“What? No, of course not,” Zach said defensively.

“Then why’d he leave?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. Cat reasons, I guess. He said something about being bored and hating…” Zach’s words trailed off as a strange sensation like that of a chill slithered down his spine. Kalana, noticing this, came a little closer and lowered her voice.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“It’s nothing. It’s just something that Fluffles said.”

“What’d he say?”

Abruptly, Rian and Trelvor also seemed to become paler as though they were now recalling what Zach had only just remembered. Zach turned his head down and stared at the grass beside the curb as he thought on the cat’s words. He wanted to make sure he wasn’t misunderstanding or misconstruing things. Afterwards, he looked at Kalana. “He said that he was leaving because he…hates horses.”

Kalana wet her lips like she had something she wanted to say but then seemingly froze as though it had taken a few seconds for the implications to really dawn on her. She was quiet a moment, and then she said, “Wait, you don’t think…?”

“He knew,” Rian said, still trying to catch his breath as they rested for the time being. “That damn cat knew the boss was going to spawn right on top of Jimmy. That’s why he didn’t want to come.”

“But how?” Lienne asked. “How can he possibly know something like that? Do Shadowfangs have access to spawn dates or something?”

At this, both Trelvor and Seiley shook their heads at the same time. “No,” Seiley said. “Um, at least I’m pretty sure they don’t. I know that Chumpkenwiffles, at least, doesn’t. I play with her all the time and she tells me everything. And she’s always surprised when there’s a rare spawn somewhere near the village.”

Hearing this, Zach turned to look at the eyeshadow-wearing Elvish girl. “Wait, seriously? You’re saying they’re not all weirdly omniscient like Fluffles is?”

The question didn’t appear to register to her, because she made an uncertain-sounding hum. “Meaning what?”

“Well, Fluffles can do all kinds of crazy things. Like, he can ‘appraise’ people and see their level, abilities, their potential…you know, all that kind of stuff.”

“Yeah, Chumpkenwiffles can do that too. I’m pretty sure they can all do that, actually.”

“Oh, right,” Zach said. “I forgot for a second that it was actually the dog’s appraisal of me that got me killed.” Zach shuddered at the memory, and Seiley also made a similar gesture, though in her case, Zach had to imagine it was more due to a sense of underlying shame over how her queen had betrayed him. He also sensed that she didn’t feel like rehashing it, which was good, because he didn’t, either. Thus, eager to move the conversation along, he said, “Fluffles can do other things, too. Like, he can also find people wherever they are in the world. Can Chumpkenwiffles do that?”

“She can, yes. She can track people almost anywhere as long as she’s met them before. So that’s not anything strange, either. What else?”

Zach thought on it. “Fluffles knows whenever someone’s leveled up or what level they are even when they’re far away.”

“You mean he doesn’t need to be near them to know what level they are?”

“Yup. He can tell you someone’s current level even if they’re on a different planet.”

“Hmm.” Seiley tapped her chin. “Okay, so on that one, I think you’ve got something.”

“Really?”

“Uh…yeah, I don’t think Chumpkenwiffles can do that. I say this because whenever I used to level up and come home a higher level than I was when I left, she’d come running up to me all happy and surprised and excited.” Seiley’s expression warmed. “She’s so cute. She wags her tail and congratulates me and then asks me if she can have a new toy or beef.”

Zach chuckled. “Fluffles is always asking me for food, too. And I mean like always. I don’t know how the cat is so hungry. And you know what?”

“What?”

“If I don’t dangerously overfeed him well beyond what’s reasonable or healthy, Fluffles goes around telling everyone that I’m abusing and starving him. He actually goes and says, ‘Zach abuse and starve Fluffles.’ Like I’d ever do that.”

Seiley laughed. “No way! Whenever I don’t give the doggie extra meat, she uses guilt on me too! Ah, maybe not to that extreme, but one time, around a year and a half ago, back when my mom asked me to patrol the Skelly Highlands, Chumpkenwiffles came along with me, okay? So get this. Halfway through our patrol, she starts sniffing, right? And then she just—”

“Well, I’m glad to see you all have the time to sit around and make idle chat,” a no-nonsense voice said from behind them. Zach looked over his shoulder then fully turned around to see Mr. Oren sprinting in their direction. But it was through his voice alone that Zach was able to identify his former science teacher—and not at all through sight. Because the man heading towards them was almost unrecognizable, at least at first.

What the…?

The sight of Mr. Oren was incredibly jarring. Zach could hear Lienne gasp as he drew nearer. The man was absolutely covered in blood. From head to toe, it was all over him. It was even covering both lenses of his glasses. But what made it so jarring wasn’t even just the blood itself but also the fact that, from his behavior and mannerisms, he seemed to have absolutely no idea the state he was in.

“We have a responsibility,” he said. “All of us do. I understand you want to tell each other funny stories about your Shadowfangs, but Zach, my man, this is not the time to be doing it.”

“Are…are you okay?” Zach asked him warily.

“Hm? I’m fine,” Mr. Oren said. He paused just in front of where Zach was currently standing. Despite speaking as he normally spoke, there was a strange, detectable edge to him that Zach didn’t recognize. He seemed off, though Zach wasn’t sure if this was because of any real deviation from his typical behavior or if it was simply a psychological effect of seeing the man covered in so much blood that it was hard to make out his distinct facial features. Clearly, Zach wasn’t the only one of the two who’d had a rough go of things since they’d last seen one another the previous evening. But since Zach hardly had the right to judge, he tried his best not to dwell on it. What he did dwell on, however, was how the man could even possibly be standing here in front of him.

How can he be here?

Forgetting for the moment that Mr. Oren was now a very high-ranking member of a political guild and had dire responsibilities to take care of elsewhere, the man had still been in Shadowfall Coast the last time Zach had checked. For him to have arrived here at all, he'd have had to travel to an airport, board an eight-hour flight, land, and then hurry his way to this main road. There was no way he should've been able to get here so fast unless he had traveled through the dungeons, which was no longer something he had the ability to do. That was why his presence put Zach somewhat off guard.

“It’s uh, it's really good to see that you’re okay,” Zach said to him, filling with uncertainty. “I’m surprised you were able to come at all with the war stuff going on and whatnot. Also, I thought you quit adventuring, so how exactly did you get here? I thought you gave up the buff. And when did you get here?”

“I only arrived just a few minutes ago,” he replied, “and I don’t consider this ‘adventuring’ but rather an important function of public safety. As far as how, it was quite simple. I managed to establish contact with Eilea Vayra, and I politely asked her to reinstate the buff. She agreed without any hesitation and impressively did so from afar. I don't intend to keep it, however. I will rid myself of it once again after events here conclude."

Even while Zach was still processing what Mr. Oren had told him, a ferocious scowl popped onto the face of Trelvor, whose white cloak swayed somewhat as a warm breeze drifted across the land. "Human," he said, practically snarling at Mr. Oren. "While I admit I've no idea what 'buff' you are referring to, I hardly care. If you've been given a gift by the Great Goddess, I had best not discover you've thrown it away. I cannot forgive any who would eschew Her Greatness's benediction."

Mr. Oren lowered his head. "Forgive me for any offense I may have caused. I shall greatly consider what you've told me."

Trelvor released a semi-satisfied grunt, clearly having no idea that Mr. Oren had basically just pulled a politician's wool over his eyes and gave him a totally dismissive, noncommittal reply designed to put him at ease while promising him nothing. Hell, the fact Zach himself even realized what he'd done was nothing short of astounding. Still, it was better than having some kind of ridiculous conflict erupt at a time like now. It was probably smart of Mr. Oren not to piss off the Elves unnecessarily.

"Anyway," his former science teacher continued, "I’m glad I could catch up to all of you. Has Donovan arrived yet?”

“Well, no,” Kalana said worryingly. “He's not here yet, but…”

“But what?” Mr. Oren asked her.

Kalana pointed at his face. “What happened to you, Alex? You’re covered in dried blood. It’s even on your ears! You look like you were having, umm, a bath in it or something.”

He sniffed. “Is that really what you should be worried about right now?”

“I’m just concerned is all.” Kalana began to speak a touch more softly. “Alex, I can’t even see your eyes because your lenses are covered with it. How do you even see out of those glasses?”

“I see just fine, Kalana, and there was no time to change or get cleaned up. As a matter of fact, my guild is enraged that I’m even here at all. We need to deal with the T9 immediately so I can return.”

“What’s going on over there, anyway?” Zach asked, a nervous, squeezing sensation forming in his stomach as he recalled the stakes of the war. “Did you guys find the weapons?”

Even as he spoke the questions, it suddenly occurred to Zach that, aside from his initial chat with Kalana, he hadn’t thought about the war a single time since he’d woken up in Angelica’s, and this really did come as a huge shock to him. Considering the fact that he himself had gotten so personally involved, and also the fact that the Guild of Gentlemen were posing an existential threat to life itself, it wasn’t an exaggeration to say that virtually nothing happening anywhere was more important than the events taking place in Shadowfall Coast. And for these reasons as well as many others, Zach was utterly stunned that he hadn’t spent even a little time thinking about it these past few hours.

Now, as he reminded himself of both the stakes and the consequences of failure, an overanxious, morbid sense of dread began to occupy his sense of being. At once, Zach found himself holding his breath and studying Mr. Oren’s blood-stained face for any hint of answers or reassurance even as the man was already opening his mouth to reply to him.

“We did,” he replied curtly. “We found them, and they’ve been destroyed.”

Zach exhaled with relief, and he could see the same relief in everyone else’s faces as well. “Thank the Gods,” he said, feeling himself becoming more upbeat. It almost sounded too good to be true. “How did it all go down?” he asked as a rush of questions stampeded through his brain. “Is Vim still okay? I went through hell to save him. And where were all the weapons being hidden? Did most of your guild make it out okay? How’s the city doing? Oh, and how close were they to finishing it when you—”

“Zach, please,” Mr. Oren said, holding out his palm. “Sir Alazar is fine to the best of my knowledge, and as to the rest of your questions…” He averted his gaze for a moment and closed his eyes. With a lowered voice, he continued, “Look, Zach. Given how much you contributed and participated, you absolutely do deserve a full accounting of all events—truly, you do. But I just don’t feel now is the appropriate time to discuss it. Later, perhaps. The battle isn’t over yet, and there’s still so much to do. More than any of you can imagine.”

Zach reached out to give Mr. Oren a friendly pat on the shoulder but then withdrew his hand after realizing he’d rather not touch his guild coat, which looked like it had been fully dipped into a barrel containing nothing but blood. “I understand,” he said cautiously, reining in his curiosity for the time being. “However it all happened, I knew you’d get it done, Mr. Oren. I believed in you.”

For some reason, his words caused Mr. Oren to wince as though he’d been cut or struck. “I…I didn’t.”

“You what?”

“I…I didn’t succeed.”

Zach tilted his head to the side. “But you just said the weapons were—”

“The Guild of Gentlemen lost,” he said quickly, wincing yet again. The mask he was wearing was slipping, and Zach could now begin to see the pain beneath it. “But not because of anything I did. I led my guild to ruination.” He clenched his hands into fists, his lips stiffening. “I really don’t want to get into this now, Zach. I told you.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…I wasn’t trying to get you to speak more about it. I was only just trying to—”

“To be encouraging, I know,” Mr. Oren said. “And I appreciate that. But I can’t have you thinking I’ve done some great thing.” He stared directly at Zach, and Zach could see in his eyes that something was disturbing him. “A quarter of my guild is dead.”

Lienne stirred, Rian coughed, Trelvor and Seiley remained motionless, and Zach, along with Kalana and Tena, looked at one another before all three set their eyes on Mr. Oren. “You mean a quarter of your whole guild?”

“That’s right,” Mr. Oren said, a scowl on his face. “They were slaughtered. I led them to their death. We weren’t just defeated. We were annihilated. That’s what happened. Now you know.”

For some reason, Kalana clasped her hand over her own mouth and began shaking her head. “Oh no!” she cried out, confusing just about everyone as far as Zach could tell, especially him.

“Kal? What’s wrong?”

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Now, she seemed just as disturbed as Mr. Oren. She grabbed his wrist. “Zach, if the Lords of Justice got beat, then that means my mom probably…” She inhaled sharply. “The city’s probably been completely destroyed.”

Trelvor lowered his head as though in shame, and so did Seiley. “I’m sorry, Your Highness, but that is what I believe will have happened.”

Seiley made a mournful-sounding groan. “It’s really nothing to be proud of, but the Great Lord demanded it of us.”

Kalana trembled. “How many people? How many people did my mom—”

“The city is fine,” Mr. Oren fired in, causing everyone to once again turn their heads his way, Zach included. “The Elves attempted to destroy the city, but they failed just as my guild attempted to breach the city and likewise failed. Everyone failed. Even the Royal Roses. None of us were able to succeed. In all honesty, we don’t deserve the victory we found ourselves with. We certainly did not earn it.” Zach opened his mouth to ask what he was talking about, but Mr. Oren preempted him. “Yes, Zach, I know what you’re wondering. I didn’t want to get into this now, but I suppose since I’m the one who keeps bringing it up, I might as well tell you at least a little more.”

Mr. Oren took on an even stronger look of self-resentment as he continued speaking. “Your vampire friends: Olivir and Kalana’s cousin.”

“Kolona?” she whispered, her pointed ears suddenly perking up. “What about Kolona?”

“Those two,” Mr. Oren said, “they simply waltzed in and decapitated the king as though it were a trivial task. So many tens of thousands of people died trying to fight their way to the newly crowned king, but to them…to those two, they were able to put an end to the man all on their own.”

“But how?” Zach, Kalana, Rian, and Lienne all asked at once.

“From what I know, Kolona turned herself invisible, Olivir turned into a bat, and they infiltrated his bunker almost effortlessly. And for this, I’m both grateful to them yet outraged. If they had only done this from the start, so many men and women would still be alive.”

Zach couldn’t believe what he was hearing. An even larger flurry of questions blasted into him. Why had Olivir and Kolona gotten involved in the fighting? That was the one thing that they absolutely did not want to do, or at least so they’d made very clear. And when Mr. Oren said they “decapitated” the king, did he mean that figuratively or literally? And turned into a bat? Zach knew that Kolona could turn invisible, as Fluffles had “leaked” that about her on their ride through that big forest on the skelly horses. But he didn’t know Olivir could shapeshift into a Gods-be-damned bat!

“I don’t understand how—”

“Not now, Zach,” Mr. Oren interrupted. “We’ve wasted far too much time as it is, and that’s my fault, not yours. I just can’t bring myself to discuss this anymore right now. Even if there wasn’t a boss to kill, I don’t think I’d want to talk about it just this second. I’ve had a very bad day.”

Zach scanned Mr. Oren with his eyes, taking in the man from the top of his head down to his boots. There wasn’t a single part of him that hadn’t become coated in blood. “I can see that,” he whispered.

Mr. Oren turned his body so that he faced east along the road. “We’ll definitely talk later, my man. But for now, we have a job to do. I’ll meet all of you there. Try to hurry if you can.”

With that, he took off at a run all on his own, not even bothering to wait for any of them or to encourage them to catch up. Zach would’ve thought he’d have liked to at least hang around them and travel together as a group, but no, he just trekked right on by them all on his own.

“He’s…not himself,” Kalana said. “What happened to him in Shadowfall Coast?”

“War,” Trelvor said. “It changes people.”

Zach nodded. “Yeah, that’s true. But he’s really different right now. He’s going to scare the shit out of people if they see him up close. He usually cares a lot about that kind of thing, too.” Zach cringed. “Gods, he looks like a total psychopath right now: like some maniac who just murdered his wife and chopped her into little pieces. We need to go after him. I don’t feel comfortable having him show up alone like that. He’ll probably give Jimmy a heart attack.”

“Yeah, seriously,” Rian agreed. “I did not like the vibe I just got from him.”

Lienne grabbed her brother’s arm. “Same,” she whispered.

“Mhm,” Kalana said. “Okay, I’ll get his attention.” Loudly, she shouted after him. “Hey, Alex, wait!”

“You’re just wasting your breath, Kal,” Zach said. “He’s not going to stop.”

“Alex, wait up!” she shouted again, seemingly ignoring Zach.

To Zach’s surprise, Mr. Oren actually did pause, and now Zach watched as Kal took off after him at a run, prompting him, Rian, Lienne, Trelvor, Seiley, and Tena to follow along behind her as they made their way to Mr. Oren. The moment Zach reached his side, his phone began to vibrate in his pocket. It was Jimmy, likely calling for another check-in. Zach answered.

******

Until just this second—until this exact moment in time right here and right now—the sole and only issue of Jimmy’s concern had been his drowsiness. Having stayed up all night drinking, and having entered a very stable, calm, and steady kiting maneuver with the T9 horse boss, Jimmy had begun to yawn every now and again, earning him what could only be called “amazed” stares from Fiona Darkmae, who continually sent him such shocked, open-mouthed looks that eventually he had to bring it up with her.

“Okay, what is it?” he asked. “Why do you keep looking at me like that?”

Fiona smiled at him in a way that seemed apologetic. “Sorry, bud, it’s just that every time you yawn, I have to ask myself if I’m imagining it or not. Because you’re literally fighting a…a that,” she said, pointing at the slowly moving and slowly approaching Mare of the Primordial Void. “I just can’t believe you can yawn at a time like this.”

Just saying the word “yawn” caused it to happen again. Jimmy said “excuse me” and then patted his mouth with his hand as he released another one. Then, lazily, he reapplied his slow and three poisons. “There’s not much going on here,” he said. “I’m just a bit sleepy. But it’s all good. I’m not gonna actually fall asleep. You don’t gotta worry about that.”

“Are you sure?” she asked with a mildly playful chuckle.

He replied with one as well. “Yeah, I’m sure.”

“Okay, then.” Her chin flicked in the direction of the boss. “Hey, is it just me, or is the boss starting to look different to you?”

“Different?” he asked.

Jimmy, groggily, turned his eyes towards the boss—and then every last trace of sleepiness was exorcised from him like an ancient demonic entity. His drowsiness was simply jettisoned out of him, and now, all at once, a monstrous, overwhelming bout of dismay, disappointment, and realization all mixed together to create something akin to a bomb of misery that went off right in the center of his chest.

He couldn’t believe his luck—or lack of it. He couldn’t understand why nothing seemed to be going his way these days. Did something like this really have to happen? Did it, though? Really? The Galterrans claimed there existed like a thousand different Gods: are you telling him not even one of them could throw him a bone?

“God-dammit!” he shouted, unable to control himself. “You’ve got to be kidding me, man. Fuck!”

His outburst seemed to cause Fiona’s face to drain of color. “Wh-what? What’s wrong? Is everything still okay?”

“No!” he shouted. “Not even close!” The boss released a loud mix of a neigh and a roar. “Oh…oh shit, oh shit oh shit oh shit!”

“What is it?” Fiona demanded. “Jimmy, talk to me. Should we run?”

“In like a second, yeah.”

“I’m so confused!”

“The adventurers are gonna be as well.”

He pulled out his phone as he watched the gigantic horse monster change before his very eyes; seemingly out of nowhere, it turned from a solid black-purple into a puke green. Beginning with its torso, this shift in color spread outwards running up the center of its body and down along its back, changing not only the color of it but also the shape of its face, making it appear sleeker. Large green bubbles were now constantly flying upwards off the top of its scalp before “popping” and releasing green smoke. Its entire body had become a little larger, too, its nostrils widening as well.

“What just happened to it?” Fiona asked. “What does that mean?”

“I’ll tell you what it means,” Jimmy said, swearing angrily. “This boss has elemental shift!”

“Is that bad?”

“Yeah, really bad. Such a lame fucking mechanic. I hate elemental shift! Look, Fiona, we need to de-aggro this thing like right now, ‘cause it’ll kill us. I can’t solo it. I was wrong. Just look.”

He pointed with his staff, where the number 0 was popping up above the boss at steady intervals: his poisons. They were now hitting for nothing at all. God, this sucked. Stupidly—and yeah, he knew this was just him being dumb—but a big part of what upset him so much was the fact that he couldn’t solo it. And not even in the sense that he couldn’t solo it right now, as he’d already agreed to involve the other adventurers. Hell, not even in the sense that he’d intended to solo it at all, as this thing probably had like a thousand-year respawn timer or something crazy. It was more the fact that, speaking purely in hypotheticals, if he had chosen to solo it, he now knew he couldn’t ever have done it under any circumstance at all—meaning it was never possible in the first place despite him talking so much shit. And that, for some reason, hurt his already badly damaged ego.

Even though nobody will probably even think of it that way.

Jimmy, knowing he had no other choice, removed his phone and dialed Zach’s number. The kid picked up immediately. Then he hesitated and braced himself before conferencing in a second number. Now, a very, very angry voice answered within a split second. He knew that Zach and the others were probably already on their way, but this just couldn’t wait.

“Jimmy!” Donovan barked over the phone’s speaker. “I told you to call me back five minutes ago! Kid, I swear to the Gods when I get there I’m gonna—”

“Donovan, it’s got elemental shift!” he shouted, interrupting the man.

“—wrap my hands around yer neck and—huh? Elemental shift? Fuck’s that?”

Jimmy gestured to Fiona then spun around and began to flee, pausing only to ensure that the extraordinarily beautiful girl was able to keep pace with him. As it turned out, she was even faster than he was. Now, just as Jimmy feared, a gigantic, massive cloud of green, poisonous mist began filling the entire block, one that was spreading very, very quickly—so quickly that Jimmy wasn’t sure he could outrun it.

Ah, damn. I think it’s gonna get me.

“Donovan!” he shouted. “Donovan, listen to me. I’m sorry I pissed you off. I’m paying for it right now, I promise. I need to tell you some important things because I’m…” Fear jolted through him, but having already so thoroughly humiliated himself, he refused to give in to it as he had last night. He refused to let it paralyze him. “I’m not in a good spot.”

“Jimmy, what’s wrong?” Donovan asked, now sounding far, far more concerned than angry.

“Mr. Oren, run! Go, go, go! He needs us!” a voice that sounded like Zach shouted over the line, though Jimmy doubted Zach was speaking to him. “I don’t know what’s going on but something sounds like it went wrong.”

“Understood. Zach, can you patch me in?”

“Y-yeah.”

Jimmy tried to tune both of them out so that he could focus on communicating directly with Donovan. But it was difficult to do while a rapidly expanding green mist was beginning to cover the world like a dense fog, one that was coming closer and closer to him. To make matters worse, he ran the wrong way. He split right, and Fiona split left.

“Jimmy, no! Don’t go that way!” she shouted at him. But of course it was too late. He was now traveling down a one-way street with a furniture store to his left and a gigantic bed and linen warehouse to his right. The green mist expanded in both directions, cutting him off from Fiona. He hoped she’d be okay. She was faster than him, so he assumed she would be. Once more, he fought to suppress his fear and focus on giving Donovan the information he needed just in case Jimmy suffered a terribly painful death in a few moments from now.

“I’m guessing you don’t know what elemental shift is, Don?”

“Never heard of it."

“Wait, really? Are you sure you've never heard of it?”

“Yes!” he snapped.

Jimmy resisted the urge to swear at him for being such a damn noob. How come nobody on Galterra never knew a got-dang thing? “All right, listen to me. What I’m about to say I’m only like ninety-percent sure of. Actually, not even. Call it eighty-five to be safe. If I’m right, though, whenever a certain type of damage is used beyond a threshold on this boss, the thing becomes immune to it.”

“What?” Donovan cried—and so too did a voice Jimmy recognized as belonging to Zephyr, and another from Reni Sarwin. It seemed that, the moment Jimmy had called Donovan, he’d patched in all his adventuring buddies. It sure would’ve been nice to know ahead of time that Jimmy wasn’t speaking just to Donovan and Zach. From the sound of all the voices shouting back at him, it sounded like he had the ear of the entire damn adventuring community.

“Jimmy,” Lord Oren said to him. “Is there any way you can elaborate on what you just said?”

Jimmy looked over his shoulder. He was beginning to pant as he ran farther down this one-way street. He spoke as quickly as he could while the mist gained on him. “It’s called elemental shift. It’s a mechanic where bosses gain immunities throughout a fight. But it’s not usually based on the amount of damage but the number of times that type is dealt. And it…it looks like it gains the powers of that element or damage type, too. I’ve dealt with this shit before in my ga—in my simulations. It’s one of the most annoying goddamn types ‘cause you gotta use math and only let certain DPS hit it or you run out of ways to hurt it before it’s dead. Again, I can’t say for sure, but if I had to bet, I’d drop a million gold that this thing probably stays immune to that damage type for the rest of the fight. Only way to reset it is to de-aggro and let it go back to spawn. Meaning, it’s not gonna be a determined roamer like that dragon ya’ll dealt with. So at least you don’t gotta worry about this being a world-ending threat.”

A myriad of voices all began shouting out questions to him. Thankfully, neither Donovan nor any of the others were acting as though they were still mad at him. No, it seemed like they were all back to business as usual.

“Jimmy,” Lord Oren’s voice said over the phone's speaker, “just to clarify, are you actually telling us that the T9 mare can become immune to every single element and damage type over the course of a single encounter?”

“I’m saying it probably can,” Jimmy replied. “Like I told you, I’ve dealt with this before in my simulations. These bosses are annoying as hell. You need to calculate damage in real time and make sure everything you hit it with hurts it as much as it can, because otherwise you gotta reset the fight or wipe and come back. I don’t think this thing is gonna roam anywhere. I’m trying to de-aggro it now.”

Jimmy looked over his shoulder. He was running so frantically that, even with his Breath of Invigoration, he was still panting, as his stamina regen buff was unable to replenish him fast enough each tick, though it did at least give him enough energy to keep up his sustained flight. The only real problem was that he was scampering off in random directions to escape the fast, constantly spreading mist, which was about to overwhelm him. And now, his lack of knowledge of the surrounding area finally bit him in the ass as he hit a dead end. With the fog taking over more and more of the street, visibility was now so poor that he could no longer tell where he was or what was happening.

“I think I just died,” he said into his phone, his knees trembling. He was trying really hard not to give in to it like he did last night. But now that he knew this was real—that he could really die—it changed everything. He no longer had any doubt that he was living in the real world with a real body. Any last trace of belief in the idea that this was some kind of high-tech virtual reality experience had been burned out of him last night when he’d been writhing in so much pain. His survival instincts were kicking in, and along with them came terror.

“I’m dead,” he said into his phone. “It got me. I can’t escape. I can’t…” He felt his body shaking. “I can’t escape!”

“The hell do you mean?” Donovan shouted, sounding alarmed.

“I fucked up. I ran into a dead end and it’s…it’s spreading like a poison fog all over the area.” Jimmy backed up until he’d pinned himself against a large, decorative stone wall that served as a partition between two large stores of some kind. The fog had become so dense that he couldn’t even see the writing above him. He could no longer see Fiona, either, having become separated with her during his scramble. He had no idea where she was or if she was even okay.

“I deserve this,” he muttered. “I did this to myself. I’m sorry, guys.”

Ahead of him, a small miracle was followed by a greater disaster—and in that order, too. Because the fog, which had been traveling faster than he could move, had at last ceased spreading. It came to a halt not even eight feet ahead of him. It was so dense and cloudy that nothing—not a single thing—could be seen beyond it. The fact that it had stopped before it came near enough to smother him in its toxic fumes should have been a good thing. But it wasn’t, because emerging from within this fog was the T9 mare, roaring and neighing at the same time.

As it approached, Jimmy realized the situation was no longer quite so well under control. For the first time since it’d spawned, Jimmy learned to fear this boss—but it was a fear he was managing to keep in check as he swallowed nervously and tried to accept his fate. If he was going to die, he couldn’t let it go down the way it’d happened yesterday. He had to at least go down with a little dignity. Something to make up for all this.

“I’m sorry I got drunk and tried to solo a T9 world boss,” he said to Donovan. “Congrats on getting to be right yet again, Donovan. Tell Tena I love her. And I hope you don’t gloat too much after I’m gone.”

“Jimmy, just hold on!” he shouted. “You better not fuckin’ die you little prick! Zephyr, move your ass! Jimmy, where exactly are you? Look around. Do you see any—”

The world shook, and the call became disconnected. Jimmy shouted into the phone, but there was no longer any response. He tried in a panic to redial, but it just wasn’t going through. He wasn’t sure why. Maybe they’d hung up on him. Maybe they’d assumed it was too late. After all, if he just died here and now, there’d be nothing left for the boss to aggro, and it’d go marching right back to its spawn point. That was what would be best for everyone, right? He couldn’t blame them for making the right decision. This was his own fault. He’d gotten drunk and behaved like an idiot. But how could he have known the boss would be able to perform an elemental shift? He’d never seen anything like that so far in Galterra.

The horse approached, and though it was still slowed, Jimmy had nowhere left to run. And due to having insufficient points into strength, he couldn’t even jump his way up and out of this situation, as the top of the wall behind him was more than five stories tall which translated into around fifty feet in height: too tall for him to leap. He could clear two, maybe three stories. But five? Not a chance. Five stories was well outside of his reach.

“All things considered,” he said aloud, returning his phone to his pocket so he could grip his staff with both hands. He surprised himself by releasing a terrified but genuine chuckle. “When I was back on Earth, if you asked me how I wanted to go out, it’d be like this.”

This was it. This was the moment. Right?

How bad is this gonna hurt?

The mare opened its mouth wide, and then, lunging forward, it made as if to bite him, its jaw approaching so quickly that Jimmy saw it sinking down from above like a descending maw in a free-fall. He yelled at it defiantly. He was scared. He couldn’t deny that. But at least he’d probably go quickly. It wouldn’t be like last night. It’d happen so fast he wouldn’t even feel it.

The giant mare’s mouth snapped down at him, and his body froze. He clenched his teeth together, and then he closed his eyes as the sound of several tapping feet and shouting voices caused him to immediately reopen them. Now, his vision was filled with white teeth—and something else. The sight of a dagger and a blade straining against said teeth. Kalana was now standing to his left and Zach was to his right. Then came the sound of more feet dropping down from somewhere above.

“Rian, help!” Zach cried. “This thing’s so fucking strong!” He made a loud groaning cry. “Rian!”

“I’m coming!”

A much louder, heavier thud along with a clank echoed from in front of Jimmy, and a piece of the pavement became cracked as the rotund boy slammed down like a cannonball, landing on both his feet yet in a way that was anything but graceful. Immediately, he ran forward and slammed his shield into two of the horse monster’s chiseled teeth.

“Oh, shit,” Rian said with a grunt. “Y-y-you weren’t kidding. Gahh. This thing’s strong as hell! Why’s it trying to eat us? Horses are herbivores.”

“It probably thinks you’re a giant fat tomato,” Zach replied, coughing out a laugh.

Rian let out a cackle of his own. “Fuck you, Zach.”

The two began grunting and audibly straining as Rian’s shield joined Zach’s blade and Kalana’s dagger: all three began forcibly shoving back on it, and all three, like Jimmy, were partially inside of its mouth. But although they’d held it at bay thus far, it quickly became apparent that their strength and their strength alone was not going to be enough to stop it from chomping down. Right now, however, their efforts were the only thing keeping Jimmy—and now them, too—from being eaten alive. Jimmy didn’t deserve their help. They should’ve let him die. They shouldn’t have put themselves in this situation.

“I’m sorry,” Jimmy said. It was all he could think in the moment.

“Don’t be,” Zach growled at him. “It’s not your fault that this happened!”

Zach was still straining: that much was obvious. His knees were buckling, and his arms were trembling. But even still, he didn’t seem to blame Jimmy for this situation. But Jimmy blamed himself. The least he could do was help. And so, hurrying forward, Jimmy tried to contribute what little he could. Despite barely making any difference, he held his staff horizontally and began to push against one of the horse’s teeth.

“This thing’s super-duper strong,” Kalana said. She was also making agonized-sounding groans.

“I c-can’t hold it!” Rian cried in alarm. His arms began wavering, and so too did Zach’s and Kalana’s. “Guys, I can’t—”

“We’re here!” cried Lienne, Trelvor, Seiley, and Tena.

All four of them leapt down from the top of the wall, and together, they darted forward and joined the rest of them in pushing back on the boss. For an instant, it almost looked like their combined efforts would be enough to overpower the monster. But it soon became clear that, even all together, they were going to be overwhelmed.

“Jimmy,” Tena said, looking at him and meeting his eyes as she shoved her own staff against one of its teeth. Her eyes seemed to shimmer a moment, and in them, he could see pain and hurt—that he’d caused to her. It led to a rush of guilt crashing into him, adding to his shame. “Why didn’t you trust me?” she asked. “I care about you more than anyone else on Galterra, so why couldn’t you believe and trust in me?”

Jimmy opened his mouth to reply, his heart now hammering in his chest for an entirely separate reason. He couldn’t believe she’d ask him this right here and right now of all times. He didn’t even know what he was supposed to say. Yet, incredibly, Zach came to his rescue once again, and this time for an entirely separate matter.

“Don’t answer that question until you talk to Jascaila!” he shouted as he fought to hold off the mare. “I’m in the exact same kind of trouble with Kal that you’re in. Refuse to say anything until we figure out what words will trick them into forgiving us!”

Both girls glared at Zach, causing Jimmy to chuckle despite the absurdity of the entire situation—and that in turn caused Kalana and Tena to once again shift their disapproving gaze off of Zach and onto him. Things were just so out of hand. They even began discussing plans to have him and Zach “sleep out in the rain tonight” or something.

“I think I just aggroed Kalana and Tena,” Jimmy said. “Now I’ve got them and the boss on me.”

Upon those words, Rian and Zach exploded into riotous, full-belly laughter to such an extent that they almost lost their grips on their weapons and got all of them killed. Jimmy hadn’t even meant the comment to be funny, but the two coughed up spit from laughing so hard.

“It’s true!” Rian practically squealed, a few tears falling out of his eyes. “Jimmy aggroed the girls. He has aggro.”

“It’s not funny,” Kalana said. “Rian, you’re being mean. And so is Zach. And…and so is Jimmy! All of you are being mean—except Trelvor. He’s being nice.”

“Thank you, your Highness,” the Elf said, bowing even as he fought against the T9 boss mare. He angled his body somewhat as he struggled along with the rest of them, and it was only now that Jimmy noticed something strange from the white-cloaked Elvish warrior.

“Hey, uh, Trelvor,” Jimmy said. “Uh…are you…are you pushing against its tooth with a flute?”

“Yes.”

For some inexplicable reason that made absolutely no sense whatsoever to Jimmy, his question—along with its answer—invoked another round of belly-laughter from Zach and Rian, and once more, Jimmy wasn’t sure why any of that was so funny to them, but it did cause Trelvor’s expression to darken as he gave both of them a disapproving glare.

“More flute mockery, yes?” he asked, his tone suggesting he was not impressed. “I do not appreciate the insult from either of you. If it continues, I shall play you a song of attack.”

“Oh, no, don’t play a beautiful melody for me,” Rian said sarcastically, choking on laughter. This caused Lienne to take one hand off her staff and slap him—all while still pushing back against the thing trying to kill them all. What the hell was going on here? How were they acting like this?

As the seven of them—and Jimmy—continued to struggle against the boss, the green, poisonous mist at last ran its course, and his view of the town cleared up. Now, Jimmy could see dozens of fast-moving shadows above him as a legion of adventurers poured down off the wall behind them like raindrops with Donovan leading the charge.

“Get this damn thing off of them!” he shouted as he slammed a glowing, sparking axe over the mare’s head—dealing a simply unbelievable 9,911 damage against something so much stronger than himself but also failing to stun it in the process. And not because of stat or level difference, either. It appeared the boss was stun immune, but not because of elemental shift; it must have been naturally immune to stuns.

“We need to de-aggro and reset!” Jimmy cried out. “A boss like this requires a proper engage and careful positioning. This isn’t a fight we can just zerg and win!”

“Zerg?” Donovan asked, his massive, plate-covered arms contributing significantly in the attempt to shove the horse away—and actually succeeding. But now there were a great many adventurers here with them, and the horse began to slide backwards like a dog being dragged on a leash.

“It…it’s just a word that means to rush at something with a bunch of people all at once. It's from a simulation called Starcraft.”

As though finally giving up on this game of tug of war, the horse retreated back a few steps. And then it fired more of its lasers at Jimmy, which Rian attempted to intercept, running in front of him. But then Rian himself was shoved out of the way as Maric Ultdern, wielding a much larger, much more capable shield dropped down from the ledge behind them and absorbed both blasts. The first laser he took with a grunt, and the second one shattered his shield into pieces, the defensive weapon suffering a full break.

“That…would’ve killed me,” Rian said, sounding horrified. “Thanks, Maric.”

He ruffled Rian’s hair. “Any time. Now someone get me a spare shield!”

Donovan looked down at Jimmy, and for a moment, Jimmy feared the man would strike him. But instead, he only laughed. “Can’t believe you tried to solo a T9, you crazy fuck. You look like you pissed yourself.”

Far from anger, the adventurers actually began to roar with laughter, with many even giving him playful shoves in a chummy sort of way. Jimmy was so confused. They weren’t mad at him?

“I don’t always understand them either,” Zach said as though reading his mind. “But I’m just glad you’re okay.”

Jimmy nodded. “It’s slowed, so we can actually just run away from it any time we want if you guys can help us get around this dead-end. That way we can—”

Jimmy yelped in surprise as Trelvor grabbed him without warning and then leapt directly upwards, causing his stomach to lurch and churn. Before Jimmy realized what was happening, he’d been deposited into a sitting position all the way atop the wall. Then Trelvor went back down to help grab other mages who couldn’t make the jump, several of whom had leapt down to help without any realistic plan to escape.

"Are you okay?" asked a man standing upright to his left. Jimmy realized it was that Lord Oren guy. He turned his head to nod and confirm that he was indeed okay, but as soon as he did so, he flinched and almost fell right back off the slanted wall. The dude was absolutely covered in blood. He looked like he'd been using a chainsaw to kill zombies or some shit. What the hell was with him? Even his glasses were bloodied. Jimmy hope that wasn't human blood and that it was just mob blood. Immediately, he became unsettled. He decided to turn his attention away from the guy and instead look down upon the adventurers, who were once again cleaning up his mess.

“Tanks, hold the thing off while we extract!” Donovan roared from below. “I don’t think this one’s a roamer. Jimmy’s probably right, and I’ve always had a good sense of these things. It’ll probably go back to its spawn once we’re off it. Jimmy!”

“Y-yeah?”

“You’re gonna tell us everything you know about ‘elemental shifting’ and what it means once we de-aggro. This time, calmly and slowly.”

“Sure,” he said, nodding. “I’ll explain it while I lead the raid.”

Donovan’s made a difficult-to-read expression. “You? Lead the raid?”

“Yeah.”

He grunted. “Maybe. We’ll see.”