Chapter 66: Final Preparations

Alex knew that if one thing in this world could always be relied upon, it was the powerful, motivating, yet seemingly unexpected effect that Zephyr Vextran, the leader of the Explorers Brigade, had on those who listened to him speak. Despite being such a generally unimposing figure with an uneven nose, a whimsical voice, and a silly-looking smile, the man had managed to create the single-largest adventuring guild in all of Galterra and had demonstrated he had a way of rallying people to his cause. On a day like today, Alex was grateful to have him around.

“What kind of mood is this?” he asked aloud, stepping confidently out of his tent with his arms opened wide. He yawned, stretched, and then tsked as he wiggled a finger at those who turned their heads to greet him. He wore his typical brown, hooded, and plain robe, with the only noteworthy element to his attire being the magnificent, white-and-blue sword at his side that came from a once-a-century boss spawn. The sword shined with a bright white light that, on its own, could illuminate a dark room. “What is everyone so gloomy for? That better not be fear I see in your eyes, people. Oh, no-no-no-no-no! We are gonna be dragon-slayers now.” He again tsked. “We can’t have that.”

His eyes beaming with conviction, reassurance, and enduring spirit, he calmed the nerves of the typically rowdy adventurers, who for the first time since making camp here in this uncommonly flat section of rolling, hilly grasslands, had finally seemed to appreciate the gravity of what was coming their way and the overwhelming responsibility they had of dealing with it. Up until this point, they had chosen to prepare for Ziragoth by partying, drinking, and acting like this was some kind of summer camp. This, while Alex had spent each waking moment overseeing the construction of their fortifications, which in this case consisted of a spiral-shaped wall nearly twenty feet in height that, if straightened, would run for a mile in length.

Positioned equidistantly along this wall were dome-shaped towers with square-shaped entry holes located at the base of each one. The purpose of this construction was not to withstand or defend, but merely to hide and provide cover for vulnerable casters, healers, and enchanters to help more easily manage aggro from Ziragoth. Though it only very slightly increased the odds of survival for a caster or healer who picked up aggro, the ability to break line of sight would make it so that living beyond the next few moments was at least plausible if one happened to find themselves the target of the fearsome, murderous dragon.

Not much time left, but there’s still more I can do.

While Alex took on every responsibility he possibly could, the lazy, irresponsible adventurers—including some who shamefully were from the GSS—had to practically be forced to work, and when they did, they half-assed their tasks. Thus, Alex had requested their aid only when absolutely necessary, as they were more likely to get in the way than assist, which meant he needed to pick up their slack while they drank and had sex and sang songs. But all that changed this morning.

The sun had risen just over an hour ago, and the very same adventurers who had passed out asleep the night before now emerged with grim, gloomy expressions. They tried to hide it, certainly, but even without the overtly obvious fear of death in their eyes, a blind man would pick up on their malaise as the ordinarily loud and obnoxious thrill-seekers were suddenly a lot quieter. It was as though they had spent all their time up until now pretending that they were not about to fight something that stood a very real chance of killing them and all their friends who’d accompanied them. Now, however, with the dragon set to pull within aggro range of their camp in approximately eight hours from now, his fellow adventurers were forced to reckon with the unpleasant reality they’d been avoiding having to face. But, all things considered, Alex supposed the fact that they’d begun respecting their circumstance at all was a win.

Zephyr continued to raise the general level of morale as more and more adventurers emerged from tents on what might very well be the final morning of their lives. Very quickly, the muscles in their faces relaxed, and soon after that they began to form slight grins, which gave way to laughter and then finally cheers.

“Who’s ready to slay a fucking dragon, huh?” Zephyr cried out. The adventurers shouted out loudly in eager agreement. At the same time, a grinning Donovan emerged from his command tent and nodded in approval. Having been Zephyr’s best friend for as long as Alex had known them both, he imagined Donovan would want to clap at the rousing speech, but that would have required him to unwrap his arms from around the waists of two half-dressed women who stood to each side of him and clung to his chest.

“You girls might want to get back to the city,” he said with a grin. “We’ll get rid of that nasty monster for you.”

Alex sighed. Donovan could be just as bad as the rest of them. Never mind the fact that he was taking women to bed who were young enough to be his daughter and couldn’t have been more than a few days over legal age, but the way he slapped them both on the ass as they hurried off then laughed heartily while scratching the stubble on his chin gave off such a primitive, animal vibe that Alex found disgusting. Of course, then again, Alex was unlike the typical man his age; he wouldn’t take a woman to bed unless she was intelligent, confident, and had class. Truly, he respected the tastes of others, but he could not help being put off by Donovan’s sleezy, immodest behavior. And he certainly had reservations about taking advantage of level-1 women during a time of crisis. It was easy to lose sight of the fact that, to the vast, overwhelming population of Galterra, people who had leveled up were like Gods in their eyes—or superhuman beings of incredible power.

“Hey, uh, Alex?” said a voice off to his right.

Alex turned his head to see Reni Sarwin from Boss Rush approaching along with the messy-bearded ogre of a man, Urnsk, and several women he did not know. As they drew nearer, others followed along behind them, and before long, Alex found himself standing in the center of a large gathering of adventurers. All were eying him expectantly, and even before they spoke, he knew why. As a matter of fact, he’d known this was going to happen from the very beginning, because he knew the mind of these overly simple adventurers too well. From the moment this raid had been made official, he’d been expecting them to party themselves silly and then come to him at the last minute.

“Yes?” Alex asked, pretending he did not more or less know exactly what the next words out of their mouths were going to be.

“Look,” Reni said, rubbing his scruffy hair with his left hand while wrinkling his lips sourly. “The other day…when I…you know, when I busted your chops a bit with that whole ‘dragon ass’ thing, you have to know, I was just drunk and having fun. There wasn’t any uh…I wasn’t trying…”

Alex sighed. While he would very much have enjoyed drawing this out under other circumstances, he knew that time right now was too valuable to waste on indulgence. “It’s fine,” he said. Hastily scanning the faces crowding around him, he asked, “I’m guessing you all want that briefing now, right? The one I tried to give before?”

The way in which they awkwardly nodded yes and smiled cheekily as though embarrassed rubbed Alex the wrong way. They really were like children. Many whispered to him a curt, one-word apology as he wiped a bead of sweat off his forehead and assured them that he’d be happy to present everything to them a second time, as they had chosen to insult and disrespect him the first time around rather than pay attention.

“I’ve already prepared the model in the main tent,” he said. “Everyone who’d like to go over the raid again can join in. We’ll begin one hour from now.”

“Would you mind if we attend as well?” asked a high-ranking officer of the People of Virtue who stood a bit away from the large crowd of adventurers yet was still close enough that Alex could hear her speak with only a slight raising of her voice. “Just in case…you know…”

Alex turned his head to regard the woman who’d spoken to him. Of all the developments that had taken place in the last twenty-four hours, one of the most surprising was the fact that members of the political guild’s leadership were not only not fleeing the soon-to-be raid battle, but to the contrary, even higher-ranking ones were actively flying in from all the way up in the Slopes of Dal’Zarrah, the ostensible “capital” of the human race and current location of the UCH: the United Council of Humanity.

Early this morning, just before the sun had risen, Alex had received a text message that High-Lord Kolorn Besh, the guild-leader of Lords of Justice, was coming here in person and would likely arrive in the next half hour. To call this significant would be an understatement; largely a ceremonial role and possessing no actual power to act unilaterally, the man was the closest thing that human beings had to a “head of state.” Though contact between humans and other races had diminished tremendously thanks to Peter IV, it had not evaporated completely and indeed showed signs of warming up. Thus, during times that called for a representative of humanity to meet with another head of state, such as the dwarves’ Chief Engineer, Ailor Lemdrach, it would be him who would shake hands, appear before cameras, and make a public—however farcical—demonstration of negotiation and discussion.

“Feel free to join,” Alex said.

“Thank you,” she said. “If…if the worst happens to your group, the information could matter.”

As things stood, there were no plans for any members of the political guilds to participate in the raid. Their entire motivation for being here, quite naturally, was selfish and self-serving. Still, Alex had no issue with tolerating their presence because, his dislike for the political guilds aside, he did understand that having North Bastia’s leadership on site was ultimately necessary to ensure continued public order and the safety of human lives everywhere on the continent.

For the sake of showing the people of North Bastia that their leadership was actively involved with and personally working to ensure their safety, it was only natural that the guilds were sending so many of their most important figures to the field camp to speak to reporters and project an aura that everything was well under control. Even still, the fact that they were lingering about when the dragon was nearly upon them was something he never would have expected to see. It was shocking, and that was even taking into account the fact that he fully expected all of them to hightail it out of here and fall back to safety at the last possible minute before combat. Though they were cutting it close, he did not expect any of them to remain come a few hours from now: well, except for just one of them.

“I’d like to join in the briefing as well,” said the fancily attired and regally appearing Sir Peter Brayspark, firstborn son of Peter IV and the current guild-leader—and also self-proclaimed monarch—of the Guild of Gentlemen. Whether due to a political calculation or some ingrained sense of honor, he had claimed last night with a straight face that he intended to fight on the front line with the rest of the melee DPS. When very gently told that the adventurers were more skilled in combat and would not be able to ensure his safety, Peter had respectfully bowed his head and assured them all that he would hold none of them liable for his death and that, if it was an issue, their healers would not even have to heal him if he was wounded and to do so would prove a burden.

“Should I prove to be an obstacle, then do not hesitate to let my bones be crushed beneath the winged beast’s foot,” he had said. “Yet I shall not allow myself to be sullied by the indignity of relying solely upon the blood of others to defend my people.”

Though it made Alex uncomfortable to admit, he had actually found Peter Brayspark’s commitment to fight the dragon honorable and decent, which did not surprise him all that much, as it lined up with the values his father once held before mental illness destroyed his legacy and almost destroyed the world. Come to think of it, Alex was likely one of the very few beings on all of Galterra who knew the truth about the man’s father from tales accidentally told to him by a drunken Maric—stories so secret and terrible that he did not even feel safe to think about them in his own head, let alone ever speak them aloud.

But more to the point, having now actually gotten to know the son of Peter IV and having spent some time with him in person, Alex found that Peter Brayspark came very close to being the first member of a political guild that Alex found likeable—and would have, too, if not for the fact that the man was such a vicious, uncompromising, and incorrigible racist who openly and unashamedly reviled any non-human with a fervor that bordered on cultish.

Putting his guild’s war with the Royal Roses aside, it was for entirely separate reasons that the man refused to speak with, look at, or even acknowledge the existence of non-human members of the Royal Roses, as he made quite clear how disgusting he found it that a human guild had begun recruiting non-human members and allowing them and their families to move to North Bastia. The fact that numerous non-humans had also been promoted to positions of leadership within the guild also clearly rankled him to no end, and that, too, he did not bother to hide.

For this reason, Alex had kept him separated from the goblin known as Torg, whom Peter had already insulted several days prior, and now, Alex found it necessary to prevent any interaction between the princely guild-leader and Norc O’cral: an orcish officer from the Royal Roses whom Peter regarded with plain and unhidden distaste. The orc, who appeared to be very well aware of Peter’s hatred, had thankfully chosen to ignore the man and had kept his distance. Though Alex had disdain for the political guilds, he did, as a matter of decency, feel some degree of regret that the orc from the Royal Roses had been forced to sleep on a bedroll outside because there were no tents that could accommodate his nearly seven-and-a-half foot-tall frame.

“This is terribly problematic,” the orc said as though alarmed, his two large tusks jutting out of his mouth as his gigantic muscles strained against his lavish, button-down suit. With his humongous forearms, he wiped a small pooling of sweat away from his brow, which had begun to drip down his lime-green skin and stain the collar of his suit. “Young man?” he called to Alex. “Could I perhaps beg your pardon a moment?”

“Just a second,” Alex said back to him. Very quickly, he assured Sir Brayspark that he was welcome to attend the briefing, and then following a brief nod, he hurried along to the orcish officer of the Royal Roses. Norc was another extremely rare example of a member of a political guild that Alex could almost see himself liking, although in Norc’s case, Alex simply did not know much about him to form a fuller opinion. “Yes, Officer O’cral?” Alex asked.

“Oh, just Norc is fine, please,” the orc insisted, smiling and holding up his palms. “I haven’t the slightest taste for such garish formalities as honors and titles.”

“I…see,” Alex said, somewhat taken aback. “Can I help you with something, Norc?”

The orc dropped his smile and his expression turned serious as he nodded. Lowering his voice somewhat, he pointed to a tent across the camp. “I do not intend to stir any pots before such a significant battle, but I simply cannot remain silent.”

“What’s the problem?” Alex asked, growing concerned.

“There is a young man in that tent whom I distinctly heard refer to his female colleague as a ‘bitch’ while making offensive, sexist, and inappropriate remarks regarding her breasts.” Norc snarled, and the growl he released caused Alex to flinch due to its louder-than-expected volume. “She clearly did not want or invite these remarks, yet he continued to sexualize her. Believe me, young man, I quite completely understand the severity of the situation with this dreadful wyvern, but surely you cannot overlook the way in which that young man has created a toxic, unsafe environment for the women around him?”

Alex opened his mouth to reply then paused. In truth, he had absolutely no idea how to respond or how deal with a situation of this nature arising at such a critical time. He did not doubt the orc’s honesty, and based on his own interactions with adventurers, he would likely bet on the claim being true. Furthermore, he was not himself okay with that kind of behavior, and had he been dealing with the kids in his class, he’d have straightened that out the moment he saw it. Unfortunately, the adventurer in question was a member of the Explorer’s Brigade, and Alex could not simply reprimand him.

“Ah, look, there it is again,” Norc said, releasing an even angrier snarl.

Alex frowned. While it was true that orcs tended to be overzealous, overly judgmental, and often tended to become a bit more offended by many situations than was actually warranted, in this case, the orc described the problem accurately. Without any sense of shame, a drunken adventurer wearing padded leather amor was following around a clearly distressed and younger woman who was folding her arms defensively as she tried her best to walk away from him.

“Just leave me alone,” she said.

“Don’t be a fucking tease,” he growled as he pursued her. “I’m a tank. I could die today. Just give it a few strokes and I promise I’ll leave you alone.”

“I don’t want to.”

“Yeah, well I don’t want to be on the front lines, either. If I’m doing my part to make your life easier, how about you do yours to make mine.”

As she stormed her way towards the other end of the camp, with him following behind her, many of the other adventurers shot questioning glances their way while others exchanged looks of uncertainty with one another. Alex knew he would not be able to prevent himself from taking action. Even if it wasn’t his place to do so, Zephyr would just have to forgive him. This needed to be resolved immediately, as with the time it would take to march over to Zephyr, inform him of the situation, and then wait for action to be taken, it was possible for things to escalate or for the man to inflict a great deal more undue suffering on the woman.

Offering a reassuring nod to Norc, he said, “Okay, I’ll go over there and—”

“Enough!” shouted the voice of Kalana Vayra, storming out of her tent with intense ferocity in her eyes an instant before the woman walked past it. She stood with her back straight and each of her hands hovering over a dark red dagger that gave off small plumes of smoke from where they were holstered to each side of her tan-colored shorts below her leather chest guard. Her golden, flowing hair whipped against the wind as she glared at the man ahead of her.

“K-kalana,” the woman whispered as though in a mixture of awe and disbelief. In such a short time, Kalana’s name had become known to just about everyone whose primary residence did not reside under a rock. “I’m sorry if I woke you. I was just—”

“You’re all good,” she said, her expression softening and her lips briefly forming into a smile. She took the woman by the hand and pulled her a bit to the side. “You can go.”

“I can…go?”

“Yep. You’re all good. It’s okay. You can go. Don’t look at him: look at me. If you want to go, you can.” Kalana paused a moment before continuing. “Do you want to go? Or do you wanna stay with him?”

She wiped a tear from her eye and fearfully turned her head to look back at the man pursuing her—or tried to, at least. Kalana stopped her. “Don’t look at him. Look at me. Do you want to be with him or do you wanna go?”

“I really want to go. I don’t want to be near him.”

Kalana released her hand. “You can go. I promise.”

Slowly, at first, she began to walk away. Then she started to walk faster, and within just a few seconds she was hurrying away. With a loud, angry curse, the belligerent man began to chase after her. He made it all of two steps.

Kalana lunged forward and drove her sandal-covered foot into the pursuing adventurer’s nether regions, eliciting a cry of agony and causing two of his nearby compatriots to remove their swords as he fell to his knees and screamed loudly enough in pain to draw the attention of the entire camp. Almost in the same instant, the female officer from the Royal Roses snapped her attention to a reporter from the media, who was beginning to turn her camera in the direction of the commotion, and with a threatening look, she said, “Don’t you even think about it.”

“Of-of course not, ma’am,” the reporter squeaked in reply, lowering the camera.

As the two male adventurers stared down Kalana, Alex felt his heart begin to pound in his chest as a situation that had popped up out of nowhere—and at the worst possible time—began to spiral wildly out of control. It was only by some miracle that Kalana had not drawn her daggers yet. This was not good. Alex did not like this.

She could easily rip them to pieces and then tear those pieces to pieces.

Alex wasn’t sure what to do. This was a conflict he could not have foreseen—and it involved members of a guild that was not his own and he had no authority over. Gods, what would happen if those two foolish men provoked her? Had they no concept of what—or rather, who—they were upsetting? Alex commanded his feet to move—to put a stop to this—but he was so transfixed and in shock at the fact that it was happening at all, that he could not help but watch in awe. This was something that rarely happened to him, too. He was not the sort to be struck with uncertainty. Yet there he was, watching on in silence with his mouth hanging partially open just the same as the rest of them.

“Go ahead,” Kalana taunted, extending her arms widely. “You each get one free shot. Not joking. Try to stab me as good as you can, ‘cause afterwards, if you don’t kill me, well…” She scowled. “You’ll see what happens.”

The sweat that ran down the faces of both men could have easily been due to the intense summer heat, though Alex suspected it was borne of fear. This proved to be even more likely as—thank the Gods!—they lowered their weapons, muttered excuses about how they “didn’t need to waste time fighting a kid,” and began to walk away, abandoning their fallen friend, whose existence Kalana did not appear to forget. Once the two had taken a few steps away, she bent down, grabbed the man by his thick, medium-length brown hair, and then literally began to drag him along the grass while he flopped around on his belly and continued to groan, attempting to pry her fingers free, his efforts futile.

Finally, snapping out of his trance, Alex hurried after her. “Kalana, wait,” he called to her, jogging to catch up. “What’re you doing?”

“He’s off the raid,” she said, her tone making clear that her words were not a suggestion or open to discussion. She stood up so that her back was straight, and since the man was being dragged by his hair, he was now almost in a sort of sitting-up position as he slid along the grass partially on his rump and partially on his lower back.

“You can’t just remove him. You don’t have the authority to—”

She stopped short, and she fixed her narrowed eyes onto his. Though Alex did not flinch, he did feel his throat become unusually dry. “He’s. Off. The. Raid.”

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“Where are you taking him?” Alex asked as she resumed dragging his groaning, wailing form along the uneven, grassy terrain. “Kalana, you…please don’t kill him.”

She again stopped, and again she looked at him, though this time she appeared more irritated than fierce. “Duh! Obviously I’m not gonna. I’m not like a psycho or something.”

Alex breathed a sigh of relief. Clearly, he’d let the others get way too in his head about her—and how could he not? Maric, Kesten, and even Alixa had been badgering him for a while now that his actions might have caused the birth of something so dangerous as to be world-breaking. But even still, even with this display of brashness and aggression, everything Alex saw—and could still see in her eyes—told him that Kalana truly would not turn out to be the same as the stories Maric had told him of her grandmother. She was different. He was willing to risk it all in believing that.

“So where are you taking him?”

“I’m kicking him out.”

“I understand you’re upset,” Alex said as the man yelped. Kalana had come across a rather large rock that might well have fit the classification of a boulder, and rather than walk around it, she simply whipped her arm around, slamming him through it back-first with a loud crunch and causing it detonate, sending smaller rocks scattering in every direction.

“Owe! You’re killing me!” the man cried.

“Nah-uh,” Kalana said, continuing to drag him. “You’re a tank. You didn’t even feel that.” She tugged on his hair, and he cried out in pain. “You felt that, though.” He glanced up to Alex as though begging for help, but Alex turned his head away resentfully.

“I’m disgusted too, Kalana. I understand your anger. But Donovan and Zephyr are leading this raid, and this could create a conflict.”

Kalana laughed. “Oh yeah? Look at them.” She nodded her head at something behind Alex and then waved her free hand as if in greeting. Alex looked over his shoulder to see both the men drinking a pint of beer and laughing as if this was pure entertainment as they waved back to her. Alex breathed another sigh of relief. Thank the Gods those two were both just as rowdy, stupid, and yes, in fairness, brave as the men and women who followed them—or this could have become much more violent. Genuinely, if this man, whose name Alex did not even know, had been an adventurer of any real importance, skill, or reputation, he was confident that Donovan and Zephyr would have already intervened. Both of them, even while drinking, were far, far more observant and aware of their surroundings than what they let on. They’d likely watched the entire spectacle and deliberately allowed this to happen, or so Alex was forced to surmise based on their nonintervention.

Relaxing somewhat, Alex decided to just let things be, and so he stopped following Kalana and observed as she dragged the man by his hair half a mile along the grassy terrain and then threw him off a hill that led back towards the direction of the city, watching him roll down while she wiped her hands on her shorts. Then she once more approached him. He waited for her, sensing she was eager to speak with him.

“Where’s Zach?” she asked as soon as she was within casual speaking distance. “I’m worried and scared. He hasn’t called or returned my texts for a while now.”

“He’s fine,” Alex told her. Those were not mere words of reassurance, though. He meant them sincerely. “You don’t need to worry about him.”

“You’re just saying that to make me feel better. You dunno if that’s true.”

At this, Alex actually managed to form a smile. “Actually, Kalana, I do. In fact, I’m pretty sure I know exactly where he is.”

“You do?” she asked, her eyebrows raising. Her whole face seemed to brighten with hope.

“If I tell you, will you promise not to go running after him? We need you here. Especially since we just lost a tank.”

She nodded. “Yup. I just wanna make sure he’s okay.”

Alex paused a moment as he thought on how to explain things to her in a way that was both honest and believable. “The truth is,” he began, “I can’t actually prove to you where he is. The only reason I can speak with such certainty is based off my experience and understanding of adventuring. So basically, you’re just going to have to trust me.”

“I’m listening.”

Alex smiled gently. “Well, I know how adventurers think. And young adventurers, in particular, tend to do a lot of the same things. They get ideas that they think they’re the first to come up with, and then they do exactly what everyone before them has done.”

Together, the two began to walk back towards camp as he continued to reassure the young Elvish girl. To his surprise, he actually found his mood beginning to lift as it brought back warm memories of his own earliest adventuring days when he was just a bit younger than Zach was now.

“When Zach left the hospital,” Alex continued, “I thought he was just going for a tour around the city. But when he didn’t return, I knew right away where he’d gone.”

“Where?” Kalana asked innocently, looking up at him with wondrous eyes that lacked any sign of wickedness or evil or even a trace of what the others feared from her. In fact, it was in this moment that Alex finally realized that the biggest challenge Kalana was going to face in her life would be convincing the powers that be that she was not the same as those who came before her. And yet, even believing this as strongly as he did, there was a sinking feeling in his stomach—an uneasiness—that something was off. That things could go off the rails in ways he should have anticipated. And no: it was not because of her.

Ever since the incident with Varsh had resulted in Alex discovering that two of his students, Zach and Kalana, were destined to enter the world of leveling, the GSG—a well as the other adventuring guilds—had been quietly panicking over the future of Kalana in a way that the political guilds were not. There was a very real fear, one that they dared not express in front of the girl but made no secret of in private. And that fear was of what Kalana could become if given the opportunity to do so. They thought Alex insane for giving her the chance to grow on the island gifted to her. And yet, Alex did not regret his actions, as he was so totally certain in what he saw from her that he was actually willing to be the first to die by her hand if he was wrong. Truly, he was.

But there was another problem. One he found himself unable to even voice—and that was before recent events. To even suggest his concern now would upset everyone in his guild, none of whom would be willing to discuss the issue or even entertain the very thought of it. They would find his words to be egregious, offensive, or else they would dismiss him outright, Donovan included—hell, especially Donovan. And for good reason, too: it was a stupid thought. It was an absurd thought. It was something that was most certainly a manifestation of unfounded paranoia. And yet, ever since a private conversation he had with Fluffles a few weeks ago, it had been burning in the back of his mind, growing worse with each day despite how hard he tried to shut it out and ignore it. Because really, it was ridiculous: it had to be.

Why do I keep feeling so uneasy? Like I’ve been missing something all this time?

Kalana would have to overcome her inner demons. She would do things that would scare him. She would do things that would scare others. But Alex would willingly put his life and the life of this world on the line that the girl would find her moral footing and would do right by Galterra. He did not know what path that would take: if that would be through influence or conquest. But whatever Kalana chose to do, and however she chose to use her power, he could see in her eyes that she held within herself a real desire to spread good. The retribution and anger in her heart would fade. No matter the reputation of her family or their past, he knew this was right. He knew the others were wrong. There was no law of this universe stating that she had no choice but to be what those before her had become.

And so, with all the concern in the adventuring world focused solely upon the possible catastrophic destruction that Kalana might inflict upon them all, would it not be among the greatest tragedies in history if their misplaced fear blinded them from missing something right in front of their faces?

What if it turned out, that while he and the others placed all of their attention on this incredible young woman, and were so taken in and caught up by the existence of a surviving Elf…what if they had become so distracted that they were ignoring something that should have been obvious to them from the start? Alex swallowed nervously, as he among all would be the guiltiest. He, and he alone, would truly be responsible.

Zachys Calador.

They were so distracted and concerned about Kalana: so sure that if anyone were to pose a threat to Galterra it would be her. And for that reason, the things Fluffles had openly said to all of them, including Donovan, was simply being ignored. It simply went in one ear and out the other in a way that was inexcusable. They’d all heard what the cat had to say. He’d been appraised. They knew that the level of his power exceeded the Elves. Fluffles had told them so himself. They knew that he could become greater than the Great Ones. That he could smash this whole world to pieces.

Yet he was ultimately ignored. Even after having survived against a superboss all by himself for a minute and forty-two seconds, he was again quickly forgotten, and all attention had returned to Kalana Vayra. Even as Donovan and Zephyr waved affectionately to her, he knew that both men, while well-meaning, feared her terribly. She had Elvish blood. It made her powerful. It made her dangerous. But they were pre-judging her: and they were wrong. Yes, there was darkness in her. Yes, she had been traumatized and hurt. But she was still growing, and she was growing in the right direction.

Why haven’t I been paying more attention? I should be smarter than this.

It wasn’t just his fight with Ziragoth. Alex distinctly recalled the day he had driven Zach to Varsh in order to save Kalana and her father. Zach had shown him that ability of his: Boundless. That should have been a wakeup call all on its own. No one should have something like that. But he did. And yet, masking what should have been a giant flashing sign of alarm was inexperience, timidity, weakness, and the innocence of youth—all of these being things that time had already begun to iron out of the kid.

A tightness in his chest formed as it really began to sink in how negligent they had been regarding Zach. How negligent Alex had been: how horrifically, disgustingly irresponsible.

There was a reason why random adventurers did not show up to banks and break into vaults every other week. There was a reason why they did not rampage through cities, tear down buildings, and go on mass killing sprees. It was because they policed their own. Even as unsophisticated, loud, and wild as adventurers tended to be, even the least responsible among them had at least some inclination to keep an eye on their most talented, promising, and gifted in their community in the event they went down a bad path—however unlikely it was.

The fact that Zach was unlikely to do acts of evil really was not the issue: it was that no one was there to guide him not to do so in the event he stumbled. Alex had more or less left him to his own devices, failing to truly understand until now just how dangerous he could be.

“Well?” Kalana asked, taking him from his thoughts. “Where is he? I promise I won’t go running after him if he’s really okay.”

Alex nodded and lifted his pointer finger then extended his arm off to the west. “For sure, he’s in Yorna.”

Kalana curled her bottom lip and made a sour expression. “Why would he go back there?”

“Because there’s a hallway there in B6, Kalana—that’s a floor in the dungeon in case you aren’t familiar with the term—and this hall is really, really big.” Alex made a slight chuckle as he extended his arms widely in a gesture of size. “And there are loads of great mobs for someone his level to go after and level up.”

Kalana made a disappointed-sounding grunt. “Yeah, but he’s missing an arm and an eye. Now you’re making me wanna run over there right now.”

“We need you here. And besides, that’d probably damage his pride.”

“Nah-uh, that’s why I’ll be quiet and hide in the shadows. I just don’t wanna let him be all alone. You know, ‘cause he’s missing his arm, so he might make a mistake.”

She really loves him, Alex thought. It’s not fake. It’s genuine.

“I’m positive he’ll be fine,” he told her. “Believe it or not, I’m actually proud of him.”

“Wahhh? He snuck out of the hospital. You’re a teacher. You should be angry.”

Alex laughed. “As an adult, maybe, but as an adventurer, he picked himself off his butt and went exploring. To be honest, I didn’t expect him to remain in the hospital for his full stay. And you know what, Kalana?”

“Hm?”

Alex paused, and she paused beside him. Now, even as he tried to keep his voice light, he could not help but allow a hint of darkness to creep into it. “With what’s coming our way, do you really want him in Galterra right now?”

From the way her lips formed an O-shape, he could see that she understood the point. “You’re right,” she whispered. “Zach’s already proved he can survive against way worse stuff. I guess I’d rather him be on another planet or a dungeon than anywhere that thing might go.”

“Exactly.”

With that, the two resumed their trek back to the camp to continue their final preparations—albeit a man down. Yet a moment after they resumed walking, Alex paused again, and once more, she too paused beside him. Now, as she regarded him with her curious eyes, it was here that Alex decided to do the dumbest possible thing he could ever do. He decided to take an unparalleled risk: a reckless, foolish leap of faith. And why? Because there was something inside of him that told him it was right. An intuitive sense of purpose that he simply could not ignore.

“Can I please tell you something, Kalana?”

She nodded slowly and a serious look came upon her face as though she could sense that whatever he wanted to say to her was significant—which it was. Alex took a few moments to collect his thoughts before speaking. He drew a breath that filled his lungs to its maximum before letting it out as a slow exhale.

“If you only knew what would happen to me if the others knew I was about to have this conversation with you.” He shook his head. “What I’m about to do, Kalana, is put more trust in you than I’ve ever put in anyone in my life, and I’m basing it on a completely irrational gut feeling with no evidence to support this course of action. The very definition of foolishness. Anyone with a rational mind would say that not only is this stupid, but suicidal, too.”

Kalana gently placed a hand on his shoulder. “Uhm, whatever it is, I really appreciate it.”

Alex laughed. For the moment, the others in camp had gone back to their activities and were not watching him. Even still, he motioned with his neck for Kalana to follow him along a different path that kept them both out of earshot.

“Everyone really likes you, Kalana,” he said. “I swear on my life that they do. But they fear you. They resent the opportunity I’ve given you, and when you’re not around, they create contingency plans.”

Kalana frowned. “For what?”

Alex needed to be blunt and honest with her, and so without holding anything back, he said, “For the day they assume you will go mad with power and try to kill them all.”

Upon his words, he had expected Kalana to express shock, to express outrage, to express anger—but her reaction was instead to lightly purse her lips then exhale sadly. “I guess I’m not really all that surprised.”

“There’s more,” he said. “They are studying to find ways to kill you. And they are researching weaknesses to divine what, if any, you might have.”

At this, Kalana did appear a bit grumpy, but still, she appeared mostly saddened. Alex studied her a moment before continuing. When she met his eyes, he said, “Having told you all that, it might make me seem like a traitor. Do you think I’m a traitor or would betray my guild?”

“No way.”

“Then why would I tell you that?”

Kalana regarded him a moment, her brow furrowed as though in confusion. Then she bowed her head as she said, “Because you don’t think they’re right about me.”

“I know they aren’t right about you, Kalana.”

“What if…what if they are?”

“They aren’t.”

“You dunno that,” she said. “I want revenge against the guilds that hurt me so bad. You shouldn’t trust me, Alex. I’m gonna disappoint you.”

“I don’t think you will. It’s stupid of me to so blindly assume so. But the more you help people and the more you use your power for the right reasons, I think you will be motivated towards kindness. I already see that so much with the things you do.”

“I threw a guy off a hill.”

“For a good reason,” Alex said with a laugh.

She chuckled. “Yah, that’s true.”

Once more, he spoke with a serious tone, and thankfully, she seemed to be listening to him carefully. “Kalana, you aren’t always going to do the right thing. No one in this world ever does. But you learn from your mistakes. That’s what matters.” He sighed. “But please listen to me, because there’s an even more important reason I need to speak with you. And just so you’re aware, I’m risking every friend I’ve ever made, my place in my guild, and my entire life to have this conversation with you.”

Upon hearing these words, she released a small gasp. “You’d be in that much trouble if they knew what you were saying to me?”

He nodded. “Even more than a little. My life would be over. I’d lose everything. I’d be thrown out of my guild. I’d never see my friends again.”

Kalana pursed her lips, her posture became rigid, and to Alex’s utter, total relief, he could see that she was taking what he said very, very seriously. She understood the gravity of it. He was sure that she did.

“You’re gonna tell me something really serious, aren’t you?”

“Yes.”

“Something that’s um, that’s so important it’s worth risking your life for.”

“Yes.”

Kalana averted her gaze a moment as if in thought, then returned it. “Because I’m the only one you can trust.”

Alex chuckled with relief. “That’s exactly it. But there’s another reason. It’s because you’re the only one who will listen, and you’re also the only one with the power to make a difference.”

Boldly, she replied, “Tell me.”

Alex licked his bottom lip. “It won’t be a nice conversation.”

“Tell me,” she repeated.

He closed his eyes a moment and prepared himself for this. What he was doing right now was either an act of extreme good that could steer the future of humanity towards peace and happiness, or an act of stupidity so terrible that he’d already doomed them all with just the things he’d already admitted to, let alone what was to come.

“Zach is not normal, Kalana. There’s something…I don’t want to say ‘wrong,’ but the word ‘unusual’ isn’t strong enough.”

She opened her mouth slightly as her eyes expanded, her expression filling with equal parts fear and worry. “What do you mean?”

“You’re not supposed to know this. No one outside the GSG is. But Zach isn’t like other humans. Heck, he isn’t like anyone. He’s…I don’t know how to describe it.”

Having bottled this up for weeks, Alex actually began to tremble slightly as it all finally settled in just how Gods-be-damned inattentive he had been. Kalana reached forward and grabbed his shoulder in a friendly gesture of support, which he appreciated greatly given the sensitive nature of this topic and the knowledge of how much he’d hurt his friends and guild if they knew he was having it.

“I’m gonna guess whatever you need to tell me has been bothering you for a while. But please, if this is about Zach, you gotta tell me.”

He nodded. “Without consciously meaning to do so, I’ve just been ignoring or not processing something I’ve known for awhile.”

“What’s wrong with him?” she asked.

“Kalana,” he began, “everyone is so worried about the danger you might pose to us that we’ve just been ignoring something that was right in front of us for a while now.”

“Meaning Zach?”

He bowed his head. “That’s right. We’ve been ignoring someone who is unique in ways that likely have never existed before. And when this person came strolling along, we were too unfocused to realize it and consider how best to approach the situation.”

Kalana spoke softly, but Alex could tell she was having to force herself to be calm as her concern for Zach was written all over her face. “Please explain, Alex.”

He took another deep breath and prepared himself for this moment: this gamble he had taken on a mere whim, but only because he felt he truly had to do so.

“Zach,” he began, “for a reason I don’t know, and for a reason I can’t begin to explain, is going to become stronger than any human who has ever lived in the entire history of humanity. He’s going to become stronger than any Elf, too. Don’t ask me how this is possible, because I don’t know. All I know is that he’s getting close. He’s going to explode with power. I don’t know when he’ll start really ramping up. But as he levels, it’s going to accelerate. He’s going to find himself in control of so much power so fast that even the best of men would struggle to know what to do with it and how to use it responsibly. And he’s only a kid: you both are.”

Kalana gave him an intense look that made him feel as though he’d been placed under one of the microscopes in his office. It was a though she were searching for any signs of dishonesty or deception in his eyes. “You’re being serious?” she asked him. “You’re telling me the truth?”

“Have I ever lied to you, Kalana?”

She shook her head. “No. But why…why is it so important I know this? Why are you telling me this?”

“Because I believe Zach is, at heart, a good person. But I also know what power does to men, and no man has ever known power like Zach soon will.” As he explained to Kalana the appraisal he’d received multiple times now from Fluffles, the girl stiffened her back and seemed to fill with resolve and determination instead or confusion and fear. That was a far, far better reaction than anything he could have hoped for.

“You are stronger and growing faster than anyone could have ever expected. It’s why they are so afraid of you, Kalana. It’s also why everyone is going to need you so much. Because I don’t think you fully understand just how…just how much this world is going to rely on you.”

“What do you mean?”

Alex placed his hand over his heart in a gesture he hoped to convey to Kalana his sincerity and the hope and trust he was placing in her. “You’re so powerful right now, and you’re getting stronger so fast. It won’t be long before the only person in the entire world who can compete with him is you.”

“Compete with him?” Kalana asked, frowning. “Why would I wanna do that?”

“First, please, tell me this: assuming you believe me, do you find Zach to be a threat now that you know the truth about his capabilities?”

“Huh?” She looked at him like he was stupid, and that one look alone was the single-biggest moment of validation that Alex had ever experienced. That one, small, fleeting look of confusion was concrete proof that he was right and that the others were wrong. The mere fact that she genuinely did not seem to find the idea of someone wielding more power than her to be a threat did more to reassure Alex than anything else. He was now positive he could fully, openly say what he wanted to say to her. Because now it was beyond a doubt that he was right.

“Kalana,” he said, fixing her with a hard stare. “You have a responsibility that you may not want but is still yours to bear. You need to make sure he doesn’t become the kind of person who you and I both know power can corrupt him into.”

She frowned. “Don’t even say that.”

“I have to, Kalana. Because no one else will. I’m not telling you these things for no reason. I’m not taking this risk for the thrill of it.” He looked behind him at the camp. He only had a few minutes before his briefing.

“Look,” he continued, “let me be perfectly clear where I stand here. If I was forced to put money on it, I’d strongly bet that Zach becomes a force for good in the world.” He paused for a moment, not wanting to say what he knew must come next. To his surprise, Kalana, on the heels of a deep, anxious breath, finished his thought for him with a strength, determination, and resolve that he so deeply wished the others could see in her the way that he did.

“But if Zach becomes dumb like some of the humans and thinks he is a God just ‘cause he has the powers of one, you want me to be there to…to act however it’s gotta be.”

“Not want,” Alex said. “Need. Because there’s not going to be anyone else. Right now, you’re both kids, but it’s…he’s going to explode, Kalana. It’s going to frighten you how fast and how powerful he’s going to become. It won’t be that long before the only one stronger than him in Galterra is you. And then, eventually, even that won’t be true anymore.”

“But I know him. He’s not like the people who hurt me.”

Alex rubbed his eyes as a he struggled with the idea of how much to tell her. There were things about her family she’d have to learn on her own. There were things he had no right to tell her. But there were also things he needed her to understand.

“Whether you like it or not, Kalana, Zach is probably going to end up being a king or an emperor. It sounds crazy. I hear myself say it and don’t even believe it. But power does what power does. One day, Zach is going to realize that all the things he dislikes in the world, he has the power to change. Everyone who power has corrupted begins with honest intentions to make the world a better place. I know you love Zach and think the best of him. But do you really believe he’s immune to being corrupted?”

He could see Kalana visibly shake with confusion and pain, and Alex didn’t have to be a mind reader to know why: it was because she did not want to believe what he was saying while simultaneously knowing that it was true.

“He won’t do anything like Peter IV,” she said.

“I actually don’t think he will,” Alex said, and now, he lightened his voice and smiled compassionately. “Because as long as you truly understand how serious this is, you’ll be by his side and you won’t let him.”

Kalana nodded, and now she appeared as strong as he had ever seen her. “You’re right. I know my Zach. He’ll listen to me. You don’t have to worry. I won’t let him be corrupted. Things won’t go the way you’re worried about. He’s a good person.”

“I need you to be strong for me now. Because I have to ask you a question you won’t want to answer. If you truly love Zach, you need to be able to look me in the eye without wavering when you do. Otherwise, you won’t be strong enough if the worst does end up happening. Again, there’s no reason to ever think that Zach would ever become like Peter IV. But when he was a boy, he was a kind, loving person, and he lived to make others smile.”

“I didn’t know that.”

“Almost no one does anymore,” Alex said. “Sometimes things go a bad way. You should know from your own life that the worst thing that can happen sometimes happens. So, when I ask you this question, I want you to realize that even though this is something unlikely to ever happen, especially if you are there for him, it still needs to be asked.”

Kalana nodded. “I’m ready. Ask me.”

Alex could see her steeling herself physically and emotionally in anticipation of what he was going to say to her. Deciding not to draw this out any longer, he asked, “What do you do, Kalana, if four years from now, Zach, whom you clearly love more than anything, turns to madness and begins razing a village and burning children alive as a form of punishment for some perceived slight—and no one is able to stop him. What do you do?”

Without a moment’s hesitation, and without any sign of weakness other than a slight, almost imperceptible quivering of her lip and a tremble of her shoulders, she said, “I kill him. And then myself.”

“Not yourself.”

“Yes myself.”

“I regret having this conversation,” Alex said as guilt rushed into him.

“You shouldn’t. I understand why you did. And…you’re right, Alex. I lived through the worst humans can do. So I do know in my heart that anyone can be that way. I’m not dumb, you know? I know it’s possible even if it makes me wanna scream just picturing it that Zach could do that stuff too. But I won’t let anything like that happen. I promise.”

“And if it does anyway?”

She closed her eyes. “I make sure it doesn’t anymore. Even if it means the end.”

“I’m sorry to put this on you,” he whispered. “But the others won’t listen to me. Even if I tried to bring the topic up, they’d shut me down.”

With passion in her voice, she said, “I’ll never forget what you did for me today. Please don’t feel sad about making me understand how serious this is. If I didn’t know this stuff about Zach, I wouldn’t be able to support him.” Pausing a moment, she said, “And…and I hope I don’t ever make you feel you were wrong about me.”

“You won’t. Everyone makes mistakes, Kalana. You’re going to do things that aren’t always acts of good. That just makes you a person.”

Alex gave her a pat on the back and then hurried off to the attend the briefing in the central tent in the camp, feeling reassured. He had to trust in Kalana. Now that she understood the truth about Zach, she would surely be able to prevent him from becoming corrupted by power. Even on his own, Alex did not believe the kid would descend into evil. But with the support of Kalana, whom he knew Zach would never hurt, he was certain that he would not turn to darkness. That Zach was a decent person was not in question: it was whether or not he—or really, anyone—could drink in such unfathomable power and still remain one. Alex doubted anyone could: himself included. That was the basis for all his fears. But now, with Kalana looking out for him, he felt he could relax a little.