Chapter 68: Trouble Above

Zach ducked his head as a low-hanging tree branch whipped by above him. Then he ducked a second time as another, similar branch came within inches of clipping him. This, as the sound of skeletal hooves pounding down onto soil reverberated from all around while the icy, painful wind made him shiver. His hands and knuckles becoming numb, he held his breath a moment then released it. Cold aside, everything so far was going according to plan. Yet he needed to calm himself. He couldn’t allow urgency to make him careless.

I need to warn Mr. Oren and Kalana, he thought. They have to know what’s coming for them!

All things considered, the undead skeleton horse that Zach rode on was not as uncomfortable as he’d been expecting. Thanks to the cushion provided by the saddle and the firm grip of the reins, the bony, level-20 creature beneath him felt exactly how he imagined a normal horse would feel. Of course, never having ridden a real one, that was merely an assumption: and so too was his guess that one of those winged, flying ones he’d had to deal with yesterday would be a great deal more difficult to handle as well. Part of him wished he’d gotten the chance to find out, but given the absolute need to move quickly, quietly, and to avoid being spotted by air, it was only common sense that traveling by ground was the better of the two options, especially considering the relatively short distance to where they were heading.

Whatever the method, though, Zach was just glad to be on the move and making his way off this planet. Having left the safety of Olivir’s estate, he felt extremely vulnerable as he, Kolona, Grundor, Olivir, and Fluffles galloped their way together through a dense, thick forest with trees so tall that most of the light from the sun above them became blocked out and made the surrounding terrain dark and ominous. Although the canopy provided them almost perfect cover from any Elvish scouts flying above, it also made Zach stir uncomfortably each time he glanced at the shadows all around him, fearful that something might leap out and knock him off his mount. By far, this was the densest forest he’d ever seen; it was also teeming with creatures of both a biological and non-biological nature alike.

One thing was clear: if not for the presence of Queen Vayra and her Elves, this was a planet he would’ve loved to come back to. It was untouched in a way that could not be said of Galterra. There were mobs everywhere—literally, everywhere. He saw giant frogs, giant bees, praying mantises the size of goats, blobs, slimes, and dozens of other things that he whipped by so fast he couldn’t even properly discern. Everywhere he glanced were mobs of various levels, sizes, colors, and names. There was even a grizzly-bear-looking boss just a bit off into the distance guarding a cave that, for all Zach knew, might have even had some kind of treasure hidden inside of it.

[??/??]

(T1) Butcher Bear

Level 21

Along with his sense of danger was an even greater sense of excitement that bubbled inside of him: of adventure and possibility. This whole planet was a place not unlike that of what Galterra had been so long ago. There could have been literally millions of different mobs and bosses scattered all over the world. It was an entire planet of places to hunt and grow strong, of things to find and explore. It probably had its own unique dungeons, too. And yet, sadly, no one other than the Elves, a few vampires, and maybe some adventurers would ever get to see any of it.

“You know, Zach, there’s even more planets out there like this one,” Olivir said. He was riding to Zach’s immediate right and grinning. “I know exactly what you’re thinking.”

“You do?”

He nodded. “‘Course I do. It’s the same thought I had the first time I arrived here with the other vampires.” He briefly released the reins of his saddle so that he could extend his arms widely. “You’re amazed to be someplace that’s a lot like what the history books say our own world used to be, right? Well, there’s at least five more planets like this that I know about, and there’s probably more out there than just that, too. We’re talking entire worlds filled with quests and mobs and some other stuff you would have to see to believe. Some are really high level, though, and you wouldn’t be able to go there without meeting certain requirements or you’d get yourself killed.”

Olivir’s claims stunned Zach, and he felt his eyebrows rising to the top of his face. “Wait, really? There are other planets like this one?”

“Oh, for sure, dude. I’m not messing with you.”

“Have you actually been to any of them?” Zach asked, fascinated.

Olivir snickered. “Well, I’ve never been to any of them myself, but I know from the elder vampires that they exist.”

“Why are there so many of them?”

Olivir hummed to himself a moment as if considering the question. “I don’t really know for sure. But if I had to guess, the Great Ones had a vision of how they thought things would go, and well…they clearly didn’t go that way. Hey, you know about the Great Ones, right?”

Before replying, Zach peered out as far into the distance as he could. It was so dark and visibility was so poor that he had to really focus his eyes to effectively avoid any obstacles in his way. They were not traveling on any particular “path.” Rather, they were riding at great speed directly through the massive, dense forest that would lead them to the base of the plateau, on top of which was the door that led to B4. Once Zach was confident that he had his mount well under control, he risked turning his head in Olivir’s direction.

“I’ve only heard the term a few times,” he admitted. “I’m guessing they’re the Gods that made our world.”

“Uhm…I guess you could put it that way. It’s a whole topic that even the oldest vampires only know bits and pieces about. But yeah, what you said is basically right: they made the world as we know it. And what I’m saying is I think the way things turned out for Galterra isn’t what they thought would happen.”

For the third time, Zach leaned forward to put his head below a low-hanging branch that would’ve slammed into him and possibly knocked him off his mount. “What do you mean?” he asked, straightening his back.

“Okay, so this is just some dumb idea I came up with,” Olivir began, once more gripping the reins of his skeleton horse, “but I think the Great Ones never thought we’d find a way of destroying all—or at least almost all—of the spawn points on Galterra. My thinking is that they assumed we’d level up, go to a higher-level planet, level up some more, and continue on, growing stronger and more prosperous from working together and cooperating. I’ve actually always had a theory, and I have no way of confirming this and no evidence to support it, but uhm…I’ve always felt like the entire planet of Galterra was just meant to be a place to start off, not a place to settle down and build a society around. I think that’s what the Great Ones wanted.”

Zach snorted. “They don’t sound all that smart, then. Anyone could’ve told them that would fail.”

“I guess so,” Olivir said, sadly. “Humans just aren’t meant for that.”

Zach opened his mouth to reply, but Kolona, who was riding to his left, spoke first. “It’s not just humans,” she said, her golden hair blowing in the freezing wind. “Elves have our own issues, too. All the races do.”

“Oh yeah, I know that,” Olivir said, nodding. “But humans, we…we tend to self-destruct way, way worse.”

“Maybe that’s true,” Kolona agreed, though she sounded somewhat reluctant. Then she twisted in her saddle and smiled at Olivir. “But for every one of you who’s pure evil, there’s another who’s pure good.”

“Aren’t Elves the same way?” Zach asked her as he tugged on the reins to avoid having the skeleton horse smash directly into a tree. Unlike real horses, which Zach just assumed would naturally refuse to crash headfirst into something, Olivir had explained shortly before departing that mounted mobs would literally run off a cliff if guided to do so, and because of this, it was important to pay a lot more attention to where a mount was being steered. On the flip side, however, it was never necessary to pause to let the skeleton horse catch its breath or drink or eat. Only sentient NPCs, like Grundor and Angelica, appeared to have any kind of basic needs.

Kolona replied to his question, but not before pulling her own horse out of the way of an approaching tree. “Some Elves are like that,” she said. “Like my aunt, who’s pure evil. But most Elves, I guess, are closer to the middle.”

“I think most humans are, too,” Zach said. “But yeah, I’m sure we do have more people on the extreme ends of things.”

I wonder what end I’m on, he thought. Am I a good or bad person?

The fact that he didn’t know was what struck him as so odd. Or rather, to be more specific, it was the fact that he’d never even contemplated the question in the first place. In all seventeen years of Zach’s life, he had never once actually considered whether or not he was a good or bad person. Sure, he could be a dick at times, or he could be kind at others, but from a much broader, general perspective, he genuinely did not know the answer.

On the one hand, he had almost died saving innocent lives after Ziragoth had spawned in the middle of a town and had begun indiscriminately killing everyone from men to little children. Zach had lost an arm and an eye in the process of saving those people, and he’d done it because he couldn’t stand to see any more people dying. But on the other hand, he didn’t want to do it, and if he was being honest with himself, he knew that his motivation was selfish in a sense. Had he left those people to die, he would not have been able to bear the guilt of it, and so to avoid having to feel that guilt, he’d recklessly charged at something so powerful he was only first beginning to understand the extent of it now.

I wasn’t trying to be a good person, he thought. I was just trying not to make a choice I couldn’t live with.

Even if he allowed himself to put his Ziragoth actions in the “good deed” column, there was still the fact that he was so, so greedy and money-hungry. What Zach wanted most out of life was to be rich beyond his wildest dreams, and to level up and become more and more powerful. He wanted lots of land, and he wanted giant screens to watch movies, and he wanted a huge garden, and a swimming pool, and a hot tub. He wanted to get a room in Angelica’s from the first hundred doors and build an entire kingdom inside, where such a thing was not only possible, but could be done easily and quickly with the push of a button on a tablet. He also wanted a fancy DEHV, and also one of those Earth cars, too. He wanted so much, and he wanted to give so little. Didn’t that make him sort of bad?

I don’t know what I am, he thought. I don’t know what I’m supposed to be, either.

The realization that he had absolutely no idea who or what he truly was sent Zach into moment of deep contemplation: a moment that lasted just a second or two too long. He was snapped out of his thoughts as Olivir called out to him in warning. “Zach, look out!”

Tugging hard on the reins, he only narrowly avoided ramming his skeleton horse head first into the hard base of a tree so tall that it could almost rival the height of one of the smaller skyscrapers in Tomb of Fire. Although Zach managed to pull himself out of the tree’s path, he did so in a way that was awkward, clumsy, and momentarily cost him control over his mount. Now, veering off to the left, he hissed in frustration as he came within an inch or two of ramming into Kolona and taking the both of them down. Luckily, her reflexes were incredible, and she was able to deftly maneuver her mount around the side of Zach, so that, now, she rode between him and Olivir as he continued to make zig-zagging motions in an attempt to regain control.

So glad I didn’t hit her, he thought, his heart racing.

If Zach did actually crash into one of these trees, he doubted he’d be seriously injured or injured at all. Even with a mere 11 points into constitution—and that was after taking gear into account—it was a virtual certainty that, at the worst, he’d suffer a minor bruise. The real problem would be the setback in time and the possible destruction of his skeleton horse, which for whatever reason, only had 20 points of HP. Kolona, on the other hand, having been turned into a vampire, could either die outright or suffer a catastrophic injury, as she had only a single point into con.

“I’m sorry,” he said, slowly inching his way back into formation.

“It’s okay,” Kolona replied. “You don’t have to worry about me.”

Zach shook his head. “No, that was really dumb of me. If I hit you, you could’ve died.”

“No way,” Olivir said with a laugh as Zach and Kolona carefully traded places so that he returned to the middle between them. “Believe it or not, Kolona’s a really unique type of vampire.”

“How so?” Zach asked.

Rather than answer, Olivir paused a moment to smile lovingly and affectionately at Kolona, who returned the gaze with equal fervor. Becoming uncomfortable, Zach ducked somewhat in his saddle, as it made him feel awkward to be in the middle of their romantic glances. Finally, however, Olivir took his eyes off Kolona and answered the question.

“Even though she’s a vampire, she’s primarily a melee fighter.”

The words stunned Zach, and it was only due to the embarrassment of his previous mistake that he did not take his eyes off the rush of incoming trees ahead of him to peer questioningly at Olivir. “With only one point in constitution?”

“As far as the elders are aware, she’s the first Elvish vampire to ever exist,” Olivir said. “She has a unique set of abilities that make her perfectly suited to fighting at close range. To the point I don’t worry so much about her getting hurt or seriously injured.”

Zach chewed on his lower lip a moment as his curiosity took hold of him. Unable to resist, he asked, “What abilities?”

At this, Olivir swerved around a thick tree before returning to formation and smiling. “If I tell you, will you tell me how yours works? The one that made all that smoke come out of your hands?”

Zach frowned. “I already told you how Boundless works. And look, I really do feel like I can trust you, Olivir, it’s just…after what my girlfriend’s mom did, I’m still kind of nervous about anyone learning too much about me.”

For just a brief moment, Olivir smirked confidently, released the reins of his mount, and shrugged. Then he grabbed them once more and gracefully dodged another tree. “That’s fine. You don’t have to tell me, dude. But I’m not outing her secret unless you tell me yours.”

“It’s okay,” Kolona said, her expression bright and trusting. “I’ll tell you.”

There was a softness to her that Zach found genuine and soothing. In many ways, she reminded him of Kalana—particularly when it came to looks. Truly, the only things that separated the two girls were that Kalana’s shoulders were a bit broader and Kolona’s face had freckles that he found cute in a way. Kolona was also a touch paler, but that was difficult to make out under this dark lighting. But their personalities, on the other hand, were a great deal different.

Zach believed with every bit of his heart that, despite some of her more alarming goals and aspirations, Kalana was a truly good person who would never hurt the innocent. And Kolona seemed like a really good person, too. But whereas Kalana had always been forceful, dominant, headstrong, and stubbornly persistent—traits that had only become stronger since she started leveling—Kolona, on the other hand, was far more subdued, acquiescent, soft-spoken, and timid. It wasn’t that she hadn’t shown signs of strength, such as when she demanded to return to Galterra with Zach to warn her cousin about Ziragoth, but rather, she displayed her strength with far less regularity and seemed much more inclined to go along with the flow of things.

Zach studied her for any sign of deceit or manipulation. She merely closed her eyes and smiled cheerfully while still managing to nimbly avoid crashing into an old, decaying tree that was split down the middle and looked as though it’d once been set on fire. As though in opposition to gravity, the tree somehow remained upright even though both halves looked like they were ready to fall over at any moment. With a tug of the reins, Zach watched as her mount leapt into the air and then dashed through the small gap where the tree had split. It was a tight fit, but she soared through it without issue; upon landing, she reopened her eyes and nodded at him.

“When I woke up as a level-1 Elvish vampire,” she said, “I had a new, unique-type passive ability called Shield of the Agile Goddess.” She elevated her chin somewhat, and though it was only slight, Zach definitely detected a hint of brashness hidden in her otherwise more reserved nature.

“What’s it do?” he asked, already intrigued by the name alone.

“It works like this: anyone—or any thing—that has a lower speed stat or dexterity stat than me has to hit me five times before I can be hurt, resetting every five minutes.”

Zach’s jaw dropped. “Wait, so if I were to take out my sword right now and hit you with all my strength…?”

“It would bounce right off her,” Olivir said. Then he sighed. “I can’t believe she told you that for free. Take it as a sign of trust, then. That information makes you really, really dangerous to her. The fact I’m not freaking out or anything is another sign of trust.”

Zach laughed quietly to himself a moment. “So, if you crashed headfirst into one of these trees, would that hurt you?”

“Nope,” Kolona said with another cheerful smile. In all honesty, if Kalana did not exist, Zach could see himself falling for this girl in a heartbeat. She was just so vibrant and friendly, as well as beautiful. It made him really miss Kalana. His mood became elevated as it fully dawned on him that he was going to see her again very, very soon. Within two hours or less, most likely. Even with such dire news and terrible circumstances, the idea of seeing her again was enough to shove down his fears and make him genuinely happy. As if noticing his sudden change in demeanor, she shot him a questioning glance.

“Ah, sorry,” he said, realizing he had been staring at her face. “I was just thinking about Kal.”

“You really love her, don’t you?” she asked him.

He nodded. “More than anything.”

Only moments ago, Zach had been thinking about his goals in life: how he wanted money, power, and all the material possessions he could imagine. But that wasn’t the whole of it, was it? No, it wasn’t. The one thing he wanted above all else was Kalana. Building a kingdom meant nothing if she did not live in it with him.

Kolona scrunched her lips together. “Cute,” she teased.

He removed his left hand from the reins of his mount and waved off the remark before gripping it once again. “Yeah, yeah. Anyway, back to what you were saying before: you’re telling me that even if you slammed into a tree, it wouldn’t hurt you?”

“No, because a tree doesn’t have any dexterity or speed, technically. Most inanimate objects count as nothing, so I would have to purposefully ride directly into it five times in a row to be vulnerable.”

Amazed, Zach asked, “Does it have to be the same tree?”

She laughed. “Yes. And every five minutes it resets, so whether I’ve been hit four times or all five and become vulnerable, the shield returns and the counter goes back to zero.”

“Wow,” Zach whispered. For a few seconds, he said nothing. Then, finding his voice, he said, “I’m in shock at how incredible that is.”

“Oli’s reaction was the same when he learned what I can do, too.”

Olivir cleared his throat, reminding Zach that he was still part of the conversation despite having gone silent for the moment. “She might have told you that for free, but don’t think she doesn’t also have a bunch of other cool things she can do. Those, I’m not letting her tell you.” He gave a firm, resolute shake of his head. “No way. Trust or no trust, there’s no way I’ll let anyone know the extent of what she can—”

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“Kolona is level 64 and can turn invisible,” Fluffles announced with a meow, causing Olivir to gasp, Grundor to frown, and Kolona to chuckle. The cat was riding on top of the zombie’s head behind Zach. Apparently—and unsurprisingly—Shadowfangs were not able to ride and control mounts, and to be honest, it would look kind of silly to see Fluffles riding on his own. “Kolona have special stealth power and can backstab for ten-times damage. Kolona also have—”

“Please, stop!” Olivir begged, panic in his voice. He turned his eyes towards Zach, who was himself totally in disbelief of what he was hearing. “Zach, please ask him to stop. I know you’re curious but I’m really uncomfortable with—”

Zach held out his palm. “No, I totally get you,” he said. “I don’t want to learn anything you don’t feel like sharing. But uh, is Fluffles actually right? Why does everyone take these talking animals so seriously?”

“Because they can appraise,” Kolona answered in Olivir’s stead. “And yes, the cute little kitty is right.”

Tilting his head to the side somewhat, Zach took his mount slightly off to the side to evade a smaller tree, then asked, “I’ve heard about this ‘appraise’ thing before, but just how accurate is it?”

“Perfectly,” Olivir said with a moan. “Please ask the little guy to stop before he gives away every secret my sweet Kolona has.”

Zach nodded and asked Fluffles to please respect her secrets—or at least he was pretty sure he did. It was also possible he’d only just mouthed the words without actually speaking. It was hard to tell, as he suddenly felt lightheaded and a bit dizzy as a rapidly rising sense of nervousness and unease came upon him. Truth be told, it was a miracle he managed to avoid crashing his mount into any of the trees in his path.

Even as he struggled to remain focused, his mind flashed back to Fylwen’s reaction when Fluffles and Chumpkenwiffles had appraised him. He also recalled a time even before then when the cat had appraised him at Angelica’s. Numerous times now, the cat had made absurd claims about him: claims that were so ridiculous he’d dismissed them out of hand despite everyone seeming to take them so seriously. They were claims that were too difficult to believe and too grandiose for his taste. They implied something about him that he not only didn’t see in himself, but couldn’t imagine having to face; he could not even picture himself in the shoes of the kind of person that Fluffles had proclaimed him to be. So what if…what if all those downright ludicrous things the cat had said about him were actually true?

They can’t be, he thought. I’m just me. I’m no one important. I’m not anyone who really matters.

He refused to accept that there was no chance whatsoever that Fluffles could be mistaken. Fluffles might have been a very, very special cat, but Zach had once seen him bite his own tail so hard it’d made him cry out in pain. He’d then hissed at Zach like it was Zach’s fault he couldn’t control himself. Another time, he’d witnessed Fluffles getting stuck inside of a sock. Was Zach supposed to believe that the cat was infallible? That Fluffles couldn’t possibly make a mistake?

It just can’t be right, he thought. I know myself too well. I’m not what he says I am. It’s probably going to take me my whole life just to become something slightly better than worthless. I’ll never be what Fluffles thinks I am.

The more he allowed his thoughts to trouble him, the more Kolona and Olivir stared at him as though concerned. “You okay?” Olivir asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

“You kinda’ went quiet there for a second.”

Zach made a weak laugh. “Sorry, I’m just a bit out of it.” Hoping to change the subject, he said, “Since I know so much about Kolona now, I guess it’s only fair that I tell you about Unleashed Phase: the name of the ability you’re curious about.” He sighed. “I might as well trust you at this point.”

“All right!” Olivir cheered. “This, I really wanna hear.” He leaned a bit closer towards him while their group continued to ride onwards. He was clearly keen to hear the details, and from the looks of Kolona, so too was she. Even Grundor rode a bit closer in formation as though very much wanting to discover more about Zach’s abilities. Fluffles, to the contrary, yawned and looked about ready to take a nap right there on Grundor’s head.

Hesitantly, Zach peered ahead of him to make sure there were no obstacles approaching, then twisted his neck to look over his shoulder at the cat, who was now riding close enough to be pat if Zach bent his back and stretched his arm a bit. Yet before he could even lift his hand, Fluffles’ eyes opened wider, and he hissed. “No!” the cat shouted. “No more pats or hugs today! Zach get greedy with Fluffles.”

“Sorry,” Zach mumbled, lowering his hand and again facing forward.

If there was one thing almost universally true of cats, it was that nearly all of them had an upper limit to how much they could be bothered before they started swinging their tail around and hissing. Zach had long-since reached that point. Ever since learning the unbearable, soul-crushing truth of what he’d done—and what he had no recollection of doing—he had annoyed the hell out of Fluffles. From the moment breakfast ended to the moment they’d departed the large estate, Zach had not been able to leave Fluffles alone. Despite trying to control himself, he could not stop scooping Fluffles up into his arms every few minutes or whenever Fluffles walked by—even after Fluffles became irritated. As a result, he’d suffered a number of painful scratches and bites in the process of harassing the poor cat. At first, he’d managed to appease Fluffles with food, but eventually even that had no longer worked. Most likely, it would probably be a day or more at the bare minimum before Fluffles allowed Zach to pet or carry him again.

“That’s harsh, kitty,” Grundor said, lifting his eyes as if trying to look up at the cat lounging around in his green, bushy hair.

Fluffles made an angry-sounding meow. “Grundor mind own stupid zombie business. Zach not leave Fluffles alone all day. No more pats today or I scratch and bite!”

Zach knew better than to call the cat on his bluff, and so, having become somewhat embarrassed, he returned his attention towards his two new vampire friends. At the moment, Kolona was gripping the reins with one hand while she used her other to cover her mouth; it was obvious she was concealing laughter. Olivir, on the other hand, kept his eyes glued on Zach with excited, expectant eyes. It was clear he was very eager for Zach to begin his explanation, yet at the same time, he did not show any outward display of impatience. Honestly, these two vampires were likely the most considerate people he’d ever met. And to think: he’d literally died in a war fighting against them yesterday.

Given that they were moving relatively fast through a maze-like jungle of tall trees and constant obstacles, there was no way Olivir would be able to easily read Zach’s abilities if he pulled them up and showed them to him. Hell, the motion of the horse as it galloped through the forest was so unsteady that Zach himself wouldn’t be able to read them aloud. Even trying would likely make him queasy and upset his stomach. Not to mention the inherent, obvious issues that arose with partially obscuring his vision in what was already such poor lighting. Thus, he would just have to give as coherent an explanation as he possibly could while dividing his attention between providing details and keeping on course. Luckily, he had enough experience with Unleashed Phase by now to give what was, in his estimation, a fairly accurate description.

“Okay, so it works like this…”

As he began to explain, both Olivir and Kolona listened intently, saying little. They seemed content to allow Zach to paint as complete a picture as he could before dispensing with any questions. While Zach spoke, he fidgeted slightly in his mount as there was still some part of him that worried Olivir of Kolona would find him to be “too threatening” like Queen Vayra had. If so, however, they showed little sign of it. Truth be told, they showed little sign of anything. For the most part, their faces remained blank as he recalled all that he could about his “legendary unique” ability. Yet there were signs that, even amid Kolona and Olivir’s neutral gazes, both vampires were more than a little surprised by what he had to say and were trying to suppress it; the way their faces tightened and their mouths became slightly ajar betrayed what was otherwise a pair of perfectly guarded expressions.

“…and that’s basically it,” he finished.

Zach nervously shifted his eyes between Olivir and Kolona as they continued to stare silently at him as though in judgement. Truly, he did not know why he was so apprehensive. What did it matter what Olivir, Kolona, or anyone for that matter thought about him? As long as they meant him no harm, why should he care if they approved or disapproved? Quite obviously, he shouldn’t. Yet for whatever reason, he did. And the fact that both of them seemed to be taking a moment to reflect upon his words actually caused him to become tense as he wondered what was going through their minds. For this reason, the next ten-or-so seconds of relative quiet felt a great deal longer as the only sounds became the shriek of the intensely cold wind and the sound of bone-hooves stomping down onto soil.

Finally, Olivir tapped his chin several times, shot Zach an approving look, and said, “Wow, that’s wild. What an awesome ability.”

“It’s amazing,” Kolona added.

Zach breathed a sigh of relief. “Really?”

“Gods yes,” Olivir said. “I’m not lying when I say I never heard anything like that before. So let me get this straight: for fifteen minutes, you get a huge boost to stats, and all your stamina is restored?”

Zach bowed his head yes. “It doesn’t matter how I lost it, either. Oh, but I have to pay for the stamina with time just like I do my abilities.”

“Okay but when you say ‘all,’ do you mean literally all?”

Zach scratched an itch that’d formed on his cheek before again nodding in the affirmative. “Well, yeah. I mean, I feel refreshed. It’s like I hadn’t lifted a finger yet. I feel back to one-hundred percent. But like I said, it costs me time.”

“What if you’re like, uhm, really tired and about to pass out?” Olivir asked, once again leaning towards him as though hanging on his every word. “Would you lose a huge chunk of time?”

“Surprisingly, no,” Zach said. “Actually, the first time I ever used Unleashed Phase, I was about to pass out from E-debt on a dungeon floor. In fact, I can probably show you guys the exact spot when we get there. But anyway, I shot back up to my feet and I felt really, really good. And I’d only lost like, uh, around three minutes.”

“Wow,” Olivir said with genuine-sounding fascination. “So that must mean all of the stamina you have in your body is only worth three minutes of time. I wonder if that’ll change as you get stronger and gain more of it.” He lowered his chin as if pondering something, then again turned towards Zach and asked, “And the Phase Level thing, how does that work, exactly?”

“Eh, well basically, like I was saying before, the cooldown of Unleashed Phase is twenty-four hours, but if I use Phase Reset, I can activate it again immediately, but with an exertion cost that changes based on the Phase Level. It also becomes stronger each time, too. So like, at Phase Levels 0 and 1, it’s high. But at 2, it jumps up to Very High.”

“And what’s the farthest you’ve ever gone?” Olivir asked with an excitement that accentuated his youthful features. His behavior and mannerisms really fit his appearance, and it made Zach wonder if vampires also matured as slowly as they aged. Aside from having accumulated wisdom greater than anyone he’d likely ever before met, Olivir did not act like a man who was over two-hundred-years old. Of course, in fairness, Zach had never met anyone that old to compare him to.

“The furthest I’ve gone is Phase Level 2,” Zach muttered with a bit more bitterness than he’d intended.

Olivir seemed to pick up on this, because he glanced off into the distance, mouthed a few words that Zach could not overhear, and then stared back at him with his eyes widened in surprise. “That’s how she did it, isn’t it?” he asked with a snap of his finger and a gasp. “That’s how Queen Vayra got you to kill yourself, right? She pushed you into burning your life out with an E-debt way too high to afford.”

His throat suddenly becoming tight and his body more rigid, Zach nodded and had to force himself to speak as the sensation of fear flooded into him. He fought to contain it. It was not, by any means, a pleasant memory. “That’s right,” he said, pushing aside the painful torrent of emotions that threatened to overtake him. It wasn’t easy, though. There was so much of it: shame, anger, terror, and the sense of being wronged. “She told me she could heal me and then left me to die.”

Olivir frowned. “I hate her so much,” he said. “I hate her so Gods-be-damned much. She’s a fucking bane to everyone who goes near her.” He twisted around in his saddle and spat a wad of saliva out of his mouth as though to rid himself of the distaste caused by Fylwen’s very existence. Incredibly, his spit actually managed to drift on the wind and hit the face of a level-19 bunny-rabbit-looking mob with four purple ears that aggroed and began to chase after them. Not that it mattered, as they were moving far too fast for it to ever stand a chance of catching up.

“I…I hate her too,” Kolona whispered.

Zach actually experienced a twinge of guilt, as the shame Kolona felt bled through in her words. She must have felt so much embarrassment at the fact that she was related to a woman capable of such evil and betrayal—one that appeared to be driven by nothing more than insecurity and fear of humanity. Both for the sake of not causing her any more shame as well as personally not wanting to dwell on it, he tried to shift the conversation away from the queen.

“So, that’s basically how it works,” he said. “Every twenty-four hours, my Phase Level goes down by one. So right now, if I were to use Unleashed Phase, it would have a high exertion debt, which I can definitely handle—I mean, if it’s just one of them—and I’d be in Phase Level 1, which would give me an extra +5 to all my stats on top of the +25.”

“And that’s what you need to do to save Olivir, right?” Kolona asked him.

“Yeah. My ability, ‘Phase Rescue,’ only works while I’m in Unleashed Phase.”

“What about that other one? The Boundless ability?”

Zach shook his head. “Oh, uh, no, that one and Wave Slash I can use whenever I want. I also don’t know about the three new abilities I got right before Fylwen tricked me into killing myself. I haven’t had any time since then to check.” He laughed. “I see that look you’re both giving me. Fine, since I’ve basically told you everything you could possibly know about me already, I’ll let you guys know what they are when I get the chance to find out about them.”

Olivir beamed with delight then imitated a gun with his thumb and forefinger. “I hope you don’t think I’m trying to flatter you when I say you really are amazing.”

Zach rolled his eyes. “Why? Because I can be sort-of useful for fifteen minutes a day without killing myself? You saw my stats, Olivir. You know what they’re like otherwise.”

Olivir studied him a moment, and Zach wished he could have the confidence he saw in his new friend’s eyes. “I think you’re really kind of misjudging yourself. Something tells me you’re going to be worth keeping an eye on.”

“Meaning what?”

He chuckled in a way that was playfully menacing. “You ever think of making your own guild? Because I’d join and I bet so would Kolona, and we’re probably more powerful than most humans on Galterra. So you’d be off to a running start.”

The words caught Zach totally off guard, and had there been any trees ahead, he would have slammed into one. Was Olivir serious? Was he toying with Zach? Why would he even ask such an…an intense question? Zach was at a complete loss for how to answer it. Fortunately, he didn’t need to, as the terrain changed up ahead. Not far from where they currently rode, through a light sheen of mist, was a dark, rocky slope that shot straight up from the ground for several-hundred feet before leveling off.

“Is that the hill?” Olivir asked, extending his arm in its direction. “Is that the one you said has the exit?”

“Y-yeah,” Zach said. “I think so, at least. That looks more like a wall than a hill.”

“That’s because we’re approaching from the other side. It’s a much steeper angle. Don’t worry, I can get us up there really easily. I just need to check first to make sure it’s clear. We should lower our voices a bit from here on out.”

“Understood,” Zach whispered.

“Gotch’a,” Grundor said.

“Fluffles want tuna,” the cat moaned.

Kolona merely patted him on top of his head—which he allowed. Apparently, it was only Zach who had run out of “pets” for the day. And as if to taunt him, Fluffles actually stuck his tongue out of his mouth in very human-like way that Zach was sure was directed at him. “Zach greedy and get no more until tomorrow,” he said.

“Yeah, yeah, little buddy. I know.”

I can’t believe there’s a cooldown on when I can pet my cat.

Zach slowed his skeleton horse until it came to a complete halt, and so too did Olivir, Grundor, and Kolona. Despite having arrived at the base of the plateau, they were still well under the cover of the tree canopy, which meant it was still quite dark here despite it being such a bright, sunny, and oddly freezing day. Dismounting, Zach flinched as his horse vanished into thin air the moment his feet touched down onto the mushy, damp soil. The same phenomenon repeated for the other three horses as his companions got out of their saddles and joined him.

Now, huddled together at the base of the vertical slope, Olivir crouched down, lifted his left hand, palm upwards, and briefly closed his eyes while muttering words that Zach could not ascertain. An instant later, a cloud of indigo-colored smoke twirled around above his hand before reforming itself into something black and solid, eventually taking shape and becoming a raven of sorts, only far smaller. It was no larger than a pouch and looked like it could easily fit into Zach’s pocket. It was also a mob, and level-5 at that. Flapping its wings, it took off, flying upwards and out of sight.

“Wait here a second while I check to make sure we’re all clear, okay, guys?”

“Yeah, of course,” Zach said.

“I trust you, Oli,” added Kolona.

Still speaking at a whisper, Olivir came closer to Zach and gave him a gentle, reassuring elbow in the chest. “Everything is going to work out. We’ll get back and warn your friends, and I’ll…I’ll use my monthly if we need to buy them some time.”

“Your what?”

“Oh right, you don’t know what that is.” He snickered mischievously. “Well, you’ll see—maybe.”

What’s a ‘monthly’?

More seriously, Olivir said, “Don’t worry about your stats too much. You’ll drive yourself crazy. Not every level up is perfect. Trust me, I’ve had 72 of them. And if you’re wondering why I’m only level 73 despite being alive for over two centuries, it’s because being a vampire, for whatever reason, comes with a massive xp penalty. That, and I don’t push myself nearly as hard as I should.” He shrugged. “Either way, we live so long that as long as we don’t get ourselves killed, we end up becoming really powerful pretty much inevitably.”

Zach played Olivir’s words over in his head a second time. Then he glanced at Kolona. As if reading his mind, Olivir said, “I don’t know if you realized this by now, but uhm, Elves get a huge xp boost that no other races get. And Kolona didn’t lose hers after turning. So she’ll end up being more powerful than me after just a few years of being a vamp.”

Zach’s mouth fell open in surprise and, of all things, a sense of relief came up on him. “So that’s why,” he whispered. He actually laughed as it all finally made sense. “That’s why Kal got so far ahead. All this time, I thought I was doing something wrong.” Then his relief faded as he recalled that, even if he was a much higher level, there was no guarantee his stats would rise proportionally. Regardless of what Olivir said, it was still something that bothered him greatly.

I need to get them higher, he thought. I don’t care if I do it through leveling or gear. I need to—

It was only then that Zach recalled the rare loot drop he’d earned while fighting Olivir’s zombie army. Reaching into his trousers, he felt around for the ring that had dropped and then clutched it inside of his hand, removing it a moment later. Olivir’s eyes lit up with amusement as he uncurled his fingers and revealed the solid-gold ring with silver, runic-looking writing inscribed into it. Even in the darkness, it held a bit of a dull shine.

“Hey, you got one of those, Zach? Nice job. That one’s pretty rare.”

Zach looked at him. “Did you make this?”

Olivir shook his head. “Nope. I don’t know how loot works or why it does. I only made the mobs through a really complex system I’m not going to bother trying to explain. What they drop and why is determined after I’ve created a type of mob and given it its properties. But I don’t have any control over it.” He gestured with his chin. “You might as well put it on. It’ll probably work well for you.”

Now that he had a short moment while he waited for Olivir to scout, Zach tapped his shoulder four times to bring forth his stats. Then he touched the spot in the air below his stats to access his inventory. Becoming excited, he hurriedly tapped the item he’d acquired, eager to see what he’d found. Hopefully, he’d at least managed to drag something positive out of what had been a completely negative experience that ended with his actual death.

(RARE) Exquisite Blasting Ring of Focused Clarity: discovered by Zachys Calador

+5 dex

+5 int

+5% physical resist

+5% magic resist

(1,200 seconds) (blasting ability/beam type): Ring fires a beam of energy, dealing beam damage. The size of the beam, as well as the distance traveled and damage dealt is based on user’s intelligence. Only one ring with a “blasting ability” may be equipped at a time. Not usable by Elves. Not usable by bear-type Shadowfangs. Dog- and cat-type Shadowfangs may only equip in the necklace slot.

Zach couldn’t help but pump his fist in the air as he read over the description of his newest item. Not only did he finally find something that had an ability that scaled with intelligence, but it had magic and physical resistance, too, which he recalled from wearing Mr. Oren’s lab coat made a huge difference in the ability to withstand various attacks.

“Oh, shit, this is awesome,” he said, sliding it on his index finger. Whether it was due to a sort of placebo effect or simply him becoming more accustomed to the various stats, he was fairly positive he felt more coordinated and balanced as his dexterity increased by 5. He did not feel any smarter, though, and that was not surprising. Intelligence didn’t refer to literal intellect, after all. It was something that basically only affected magic and certain other things that scaled off it—and finally, he had something that did!

“It looks good on you,” Kolona said with a wink, to which Olivir folded his arms and gave a teasing, jealous shake of his head. Zach smiled appreciably then remained quiet as he waited for Olivir to finish scouting the area above them. He felt more alive and excited by the second as each moment brought him closer to seeing Kal again.

While in technical terms she may have been a bazillion miles away or however far two-hundred light years happened to be, in practical terms, she was a hell of a lot closer. To be exact, she was close enough so that reaching her would only require Zach to head up to the top of the plateau, enter a door, enter another door, run past a few skeletons, say hi to Moldark in the wedding room, run down a really long hallway, and then—and then she would be just a couple of miles away. He gripped his hands into fists. Nothing was going to stop him. Nothing at all. He wouldn’t let anyone get in the way of him finding his—

“HUMANS!” shouted a loud, angry voice from above them that Zach had never heard before. He whirled his head around, as did Olivir and Kolona. They’d been caught, hadn’t they? Fuck! Someone had seen them. But where? Who? Zach spun around and tried to find the source of the voice. Was it one of the Elves? Were they under attack?

The three of them exchanged confused glances as none of them, including Grundor or Fluffles, could seem to pinpoint the loud female voice that had shouted at them. Or had it even shouted at them at all? After a tension-filled moment of quiet, even more shouting emerged from somewhere above them and into the distance, and right away, it became apparent that it had not been at the five of them that this female-sounding voice had roared.

“Whoah, whoah, put down the spear!” shouted a different, male voice from somewhere on top of the plateau. Now this voice…this was one that Zach recognized, and the sound of it caused sweat to appear on his brow despite the unreasonably cold temperature. Confusion, fear, and stress all mingled together at once as he fought to understand what the hell was going on.

“Miss, please,” said a completely different female voice, which Zach also recognized. “We aren’t here to cause any harm. We’re just adventurers passing through Yorna. We’re trying to find our friend. His name is—”

“You are intruders on Elvish territory! There is no excuse! You will be taken prisoner and interrogated until we can determine why you have violated the sanctity of our domain.”

“Look, I told you why we’re here,” the male voice said. “We’re just looking for our buddy. Hey, whoah, relax! Miss, please get that thing out of my face, okay? Oh boy. Li, run!”

Zach hissed in anger—and so did Fluffles. This, while Grundor, Olivir, and Kolona alternated between looking at him and his cat as if demanding to be informed about what the two of them knew. “Are you fucking shitting me!” Zach growled.

“Fluffles coming!” the cat called out to the voices on top of the plateau. Zach shouted out for the cat to stop, but before he could release a single word, Fluffles had already transformed himself into a giant, panther-like beast with wings and hideously sharp teeth as he took off flying in the direction of the shout.

“Fluffles coming!” he said again, only now his voice was booming and far, far deeper in pitch.

“What’s going on?” Olivir asked, the confusion plain on his face.

Kolona grabbed his arm. “Do you know those humans? Zach, please, tell us what’s going on?”

“They’re my friends,” he explained. “And they must’ve come here looking for me. Their names are Rian and Lienne.” Standing up from their huddle, he wasted no time. At once, he activated Unleashed Phase, and now a thick, impossibly black smoke began to immediately pour out of his hands and feet, along with the seldom, occasional burning ember that was prematurely extinguished by the cold, unforgiving winds. “How quick can you get us up there? Fuck scouting. I need to help them now!”

Olivir, for his part, displayed no hesitation. With a firm nod, he said, “I’ll summon some winged skelly horses right now. You’ve got, what, fifteen minutes in that phase, right?”

“Yeah. Looks like we’re just going to have to grab those two and make a run for it.” He swore, loudly. “I can’t believe this is happening!”

Olivir sighed. “Look on the bright side, Zach.”

“What bright side?” he shouted, louder than intended.

Olivir grinned. “If we’re going to make a mad dash to Galterra, then that means you’ll be seeing your girlfriend again in the next fifteen minutes instead of an hour.”

The smile that worked its way onto Zach’s lips surprised him, as he did not expect it. “Oh yeah. Good point.”