Chapter 91: The Boy in the Woods

Getting up from the table with the others, Zach and Kalana exchanged a look, yet it was not one of fear, but hope. Despite the past few hours consisting of one bombshell after the next, there was a rising sense within Zach that he had truly become part of something very, very important. It gave him a motivating feeling of purpose. And this seemed to be shared by Mr. Oren as well; despite the man having had his entire worldview shattered, he had quickly become renewed in a sense.

For the past thirty minutes, he, Kalana, Donovan, Mr. Oren, and Prila had continued to sit at the table and engage in relatively milder topics of discussion while they finished their meals. Mr. Oren and Donovan had gone back to eating, and even Prila had taken a few bites of food. Though, having been under general anesthesia, she probably wasn’t the hungriest person alive. Angelica, for her part, had hurriedly gotten up and rushed out of the room, as she claimed there was a surge of demand and people were getting impatient.

Now, as they began slowly moving towards the door that would take them out of the “privacy room,” Mr. Oren placed one hand on Zach’s shoulder and one hand on Kalana’s. “I know you two want to spend some time together here,” he said, “but please be back before sunset. I don’t know if you were planning to stay out all night and show up in the morning, but please don’t. You need to get back, get some sleep, and be ready to fight.”

“Okay,” Kalana said. “I’ll make sure we don’t stay longer than an hour. Right, Zach?”

“Yeah, I guess,” he said. “I just figured you wouldn’t mind too much as long as we made it on time.”

“If I can be honest with you, my man, I wouldn’t want you there at all if you were fighting at or even near your own level. The same goes for Kalana. The thing is…you’re going to be very important to our success, at least based on what I heard about your plans with the queen tomorrow. She brought it up in the briefing, and although I was disappointed you and Kalana chose to skip out, I was actually very proud of you for overcoming your fears enough to reach that point.”

“Huh?” Zach asked, scratching his head. “My plans with the queen?”

Kalana, too, looked baffled. “What plans?”

“She claims that you and her overcame your differences and that, for the sake of the greater good, you’re willing to trust her so that you can call upon some great power she claims you have.”

Nothing Mr. Oren just said to him sounded familiar. “Great power?” he asked, repeating the words. “Huh? I don’t remember ever…ohh! Wait.” He snapped his fingers. “She means Phase Level 3.”

“I’m not familiar with what that is, but perhaps. She refused to tell us anything about it without your permission.”

“I’ve never heard of that either,” Kalana said. Then she frowned. “But if my mom gets to know, I should know, too.”

Zach looked around. There was no one in this room he couldn’t absolutely trust—including Prila, since she already knew exactly what he could do and likely knew a whole lot more than that, too. And so, asking them to briefly join his party, Zach showed them all of his Phase abilities, and honestly? After the nightmarish thing he’d done to the Ziragoth adds, it seemed like his Doomsday Slash actually helped blunt the level of shock and fear that he’d worried they’d express upon seeing it. That, in combination with the mind-crushing discoveries they’d all made today, ended up providing Zach with the perfect opportunity to finally confide in them.

“This is what she’s referring to,” he said, bringing forth the information. He held nothing back from them save for one thing and one thing alone: Doomsday Slash. And this was not due to any desire to keep it a secret, but rather, he himself was not ready to look at that ability. Since it was on a five-year cooldown, he’d decided to wait a little longer before diving into that.

At any rate, he remained silent while they read the information he conjured into the air before him. The fact that Queen Vayra had not told them how Unleashed Phase worked was yet another sign of their growing trust, and his attitude and view towards the Elvish queen was definitely beginning to change for the positive even despite her flaws.

(UNLEASHED Ability) Phase Reset (UNIQUE)

Resets the cooldown of Unleashed Phase and increases Phase Level by 1. The Phase Level determines the following properties when using Unleashed Phase. Usage Cost: 0:00

(Phase Level decreases by 1 every twenty-four hours.)

Phase Level 0 (default)

Exertion Level: High

Phase Level 1

Exertion Level: High. Additional +5 to all basic stats and additional Armor + 5

Phase Level 2

Exertion Level: Very High. Additional + 30 to all basic stats and additional Armor + 30

Phase Level 3

Exertion Level: Very High. Additional + 50 to all basic stats and additional Armor + 50

Phase Level 4

Exertion Level: Extreme. Additional + 100 to all basic stats an additional armor + 100

Phase Level 5

Exertion Level: EXTREME+ Additional + 1000 to all basic stats and armor + 1000

Phase Level 6

Exertion Level: Terminal. In exchange for the life of the user, additional + 10,000 to all basic stats, and armor +10,000. User has access to every ability and every spell. User can move faster than light. User can summon up to 5 dragons. Cannot summon Elder Dragons.

Upon carefully reading over the information, Mr. Oren and Donovan glanced at one another. Then, both of them exhaled in unison, and of all things, a look of relief crossed their faces. It was certainly not the reaction Zach had expected, but it sure did beat fear. If anything, the two of them actually seemed kind of glad. Donovan gave him a heavy pat on his shoulder, which hurt so Gods-damned bad even though he now had 85 points of constitution with his gear on, which meant the man clearly did this on purpose and calculated how hard he hit depending on who he was hitting.

I knew it, Zach thought, chuckling for some reason.

Mr. Oren also gave him a pat, though his was much more friendly and less aggressive. “This is really good,” he said. “Are those stat boosts cumulative? Meaning, at Phase Level 3, do you gain an extra +50 in total or +85?”

“It should give me +85,” he said. “But that’s on top of the +20 just from being in Unleashed Phase. So, it’s +105 in total.”

“That’s even better. If you’re really going to add that much to your stats, you’ll probably need to join the main raid group with the GSG.”

“Isn’t that for the people fighting on the frontlines?” Zach asked, becoming nervous.

Mr. Oren nodded. “If Queen Vayra is able to help you call upon that ability, it’s where you belong. Especially since I believe that…” He paused a moment before continuing, and he averted his gaze while slightly moving his lips as though calculating something in his head. “Yes,” he whispered, though mostly to himself. Then, once more looking at Zach, he said, “This might surprise you to hear, but at least stat-wise, there’s a good chance you’ll temporarily become the most powerful member of the raid tomorrow. Of course, that’s just a guess. I’m not actually sure if Kalana’s stats are higher.”

“No, his will be,” she said. “I saw his stats earlier. With that ability, he’s gonna break 200 strength. But I dunno if that’ll make him the most powerful of everyone, ‘cause I dunno what my mom’s stats are. But he’ll definitely be the most powerful human. There might still be a few Elves with higher stats.”

“Even still,” Donovan said, whistling and nodding his head approvingly. “Gods damn! I’ve never heard of anyone going over 200 strength. Highest I ever got with buffs was 196. Kid’s not even level 20 yet, is he? And if we get some buffs thrown on him…?”

Zach sighed. “The thing is, guys, I…I really don’t want to fight the dragon. I’m ashamed to admit this, but I’m scared. I’m really scared.”

Kalana took his hand and squeezed it. “You don’t have to go if you really don’t wanna.”

“Yes, he does,” Mr. Oren said. “He has to get over this. If you don’t fight it with us tomorrow, Zach, then even if we win without you, you’ll spend the rest of your life living in fear.”

“I know I will. I’m just so terrified of that thing. I’m so afraid of what it could do to me again.”

“And you’ll continue to be,” Donovan grunted. “Up until the moment you hit it, you’re gonna feel like shitting your pants. But as soon as you slash that fucker one time, that fear will change into anger real quick.” He narrowed his eyes at Zach, and a look of warning came over him so suddenly that Zach wasn’t sure what to make of it. “But no matter what you do, kid, don’t you dare lose control of your temper and pull aggro off the tanks. If you or Alex does that, you’re both in a world of hurt. I don’t want to see either of you pulling that shit.”

Mr. Oren leaned closer and whispered into his ear. “Later today, I’ll teach you how to perform the DPS role properly in a raid.”

Zach nodded his thanks. Then, together, the five of them exited the room and began making their way down the hallway leading to the upstairs back-room. After taking just one, tiny little step outside, Zach stopped short, looked around at the others, and said, “Wow, I already can’t remember.”

Mr. Oren, frowning at him, lifted his finger to his nose and gave him a frustrated glare. Kalana also slapped the back of his head, though very gently. “What? I can’t even say—”

Mr. Oren lifted his eyebrows, and he more tightly pressed his finger into his nose, turning the expression from a warning into a threat. Zach sighed. “Okay, okay, I got it.”

It really did drive him nuts, though. There was such a huge danger coming to Galterra at some point in the future—he wasn’t quite sure when—and he wasn’t even allowed to know what it was. Taking an educated guess, he assumed it was some kind of boss spawn. Otherwise, why would he have involved these particular people? But he couldn’t remember the nature of it, how much was known about it, what its name was—assuming it had one—and when the danger would arrive. And when he thought back to the conversation they’d had just before, he could remember every detail—except when it came to specifics of…of whatever it was Zach had warned them about.

“Kal,” he whispered, low enough so that not even Mr. Oren could hear him. “Just give me a hint about what the—”

“Nah-uh,” she whispered back. “I’m not telling you.”

“This is the most unfair shit ever.”

“Too bad!”

Upon reaching the steps, Donovan, who’d been pushing Prila’s wheelchair, scooped up the woman with a surprising gentleness while Kalana carried the chair itself. “I should be able to walk by next week,” Prila said. “This is so humiliating. But I guess if I had to end up in a man’s arms, I could do worse.” She blushed, and Donovan barked out a laugh.

“Darling, you’d better be careful who you tease,” he said back to her.

Zach tuned the both of them out as they began to flirt with one another. Together, they quickly marched their way up the stairs before setting her back down in her wheelchair and continuing onwards. As they moved their way down another hall and neared the tavern, Zach couldn’t help but wonder if Angelica’s sounded just a tad bit louder than it usually did. It was hard to tell, because it was always really loud.

“Remember,” Mr. Oren said. “You can hang out here for an hour, but then afterwards, you both need to—are you kidding me?” he asked, finishing his words in a growl. “I am beside myself right now. What in the name of the Gods are those idiots doing?”

Rounding the corner and finally walking back into the open area of the tavern, Zach was immediately greeted with the sight of the largest number of people he’d ever seen in Angelica’s at a single time. Right now, in addition to the already large group of adventurers who had been here when Zach had arrived, the entire raid camp—as in all one-hundred percent of them—had showed up, as well as what looked like another few hundred thrill-seeking, lower-level adventurers who must have wanted to join in on the fun.

“How could they?” Alex hissed. “Donovan, can you believe they’d just up and—”

“Let’s get fucking drunk, boys!” Donovan shouted, marching out into the cheering crowd, who raised their mugs in his honor as he stomped his plate boots down on the wood flooring. There was an explosion of noise so loud that it made the entire place vibrate like a person playing music with the bass set too high. There was even a seat already opened up for him as though they’d been waiting for him to arrive.

“Donovan, you bastard!” one of them cried. “Did you think you could take Zach and the princess out for some fun and leave us behind in that hellish heat?”

“I sure tried, you bald son of a bitch! Now give me a gods-damned hug and get me a beer!”

Zach smiled. Although he could totally understand Mr. Oren’s frustration, he himself had grown to really appreciate even the most jarring qualities of the adventurers. They lived in the moment. Truly. Their lives spent facing danger, they lived each second like it could be their last, and they enjoyed all of it. Mr. Oren was so totally different from these people. In all honesty—and he didn’t even mean this in a bad way—Mr. Oren should’ve been a political guild leader. The world would be so much better off for it, and so would he. At least, that was what Zach was starting to think.

“This,” he whispered into Kalana’s ear, “is the Angelica’s I wanted you to see.”

She beamed at him. “Look how much fun everyone’s having! Wait, is that my mom?” she asked, pointing.

Zach looked in the direction indicated, and to his utter disbelief, Fylwen Vayra, along with all fifty of her Elvish warriors, were drinking together and hanging out with the adventurers. No, wait—more than fifty. There were closer to a hundred now, including some of the white-cloaks. Zach even recognized some of them from the battle against Olivir’s zombies.

“What are all of them doing here?” Kalana asked. “I can’t believe my mom’s in a place like this.”

“You should really go talk to her,” Zach said. “Now’s a chance for you two to spend time together. This is actually a really good place for that.”

“But what about you?”

“Kal, I’d come here with you every day of the week if you really wanted. Now’s your chance to hang out with your mom. I’m not saying you have to forgive her or like her but…it couldn’t hurt for you to just talk.”

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Kalana nodded, kissed him on his cheek, hurriedly muttered, “I love you,” and then marched over to where her mother was sitting with the other Elvish warriors. The look on her face as she saw her daughter approaching was one of longing combined with genuine happiness. He had no idea if those two could ever reconcile. The fact that Zach chose to forgive Fylwen might help Kalana do so, but only with regard to what had happened to him. There were likely many other things for which she needed forgiveness. Certainly, for what she’d done to Kolona. But even aside from that, there were probably other things that Zach didn’t even know about given the hostility between herself and Eldora.

Speaking of Eldora, even he’s here, Zach realized.

He was hanging out exclusively with a small group of adventurers from the GSG: specifically, those who had helped him deal with the adds on the hill. There were five of them, all men, and all in their late thirties and early forties. Zach did not know their names, but he could tell that Eldora had become fast friends with each of them. He was glad to see it. Eldora had looked a little lonely lately, so watching him become best buddies with a group of adventurers made Zach smile.

Right now, the man was chugging down a mug of beer and laughing. And with the ambient volume in the place so loud, it was difficult to hear what he was saying to them. But from the few words Zach was able to discern, it sounded like Eldora and his five GSG friends were considering forming a group next week to fight some boss that spawned in a region called “New York.”

I’m really happy he’s found a group of guys his age to spend time with.

Everywhere Zach looked, people were having a great time. Even Fluffles and Chumpkenwiffles were getting along for once. The two were eating out of the same bowl that Angelica had set down near Queen Vayra while Kalana kept leaning over to pet them both. Not far from where she and her mother were sitting together, Zach spotted Rian and Lienne, the two of them still together with Elves they had met on the beach. They both waved to Zach, and he waved back. But then they quickly returned their attention to their dates—assuming that was what they were.

With so many merry people all around him, Zach was surprised to realize that there was only a single person in all of Angelica’s who was not currently in a good mood—and that person was Mr. Oren. Standing beside him, there was no hiding the anger that Mr. Oren was feeling. He could actually see the man’s shoulders tremble as he watched everyone drink, eat, sing, and dance.

“Alex, you need to relax,” Spider said, seemingly appearing out of nowhere. “You’re way too uptight. Why don’t you cut loose and have a drink? We might all die tomorrow. Don’t be a grump on what might be the last night of your life.”

Mr. Oren glared at the man. “I’m fed up is what I am. This is irresponsible. This could create so much friction with the political guilds.”

“Actually, they were the ones who told us we could go if we wanted.”

At this, about three-quarters of Mr. Oren’s anger was replaced by a sudden bout of confusion, evident by the way he held up his pointer finger, made as if to speak, then only managed to turn his head partially to the side before uttering a single word: “What?”

Spider grinned. “Right after you and Don left with Zach, High-Lord Kolorn Besh came up to me and Zephyr and asked us where you went. I didn’t see no reason to lie, so I said you probably took the kid out for a cola in a bar we all like to go to just to take off some of the edge.”

“And…what did he say?” Mr. Oren asked.

“He said the rest of us should feel free to go with ya. I couldn’t help but notice, though, that there was a whole ‘lotta media people showing up. I think the political guilds were planning to hold a huge press conference right around now.” He laughed. “They probably didn’t want us anywhere in the area while it’s going on. So trust me, I wouldn’t have let everyone come out here if I thought it’d create problems. So chill your ass down and stop acting like a Gods-damned nanny all the time.”

Zach recalled that Spider was the second-in-command of the GSG, and so, with Donovan having stepped out, it had likely been his call to make—at least so far as the GSG was concerned.

“Hey, Spider?” Zach asked.

“What’s up, son?”

He glanced over to the front of the tavern, unable to believe the words that came out of his mouth even as he spoke them. “I uh…I’ve got a lot of…” He tapped on his chest, not sure how to express himself. “There’s a lot I need to get out of my system. Do you think we could have another fight? Not because I’m mad at you or anything. I actually think you’re pretty cool.”

“Naw, I get it. I go against friends all the time. Friendly fights are as common as rivalries in here.” He elbowed Zach in the side, though he did so affectionately. “I could go for round two. Just don’t go calling down the fires of heaven on me,” he added with a laugh.

“Zach,” Mr. Oren said, his tone sharp and angered. “You can’t fight Spider right now.”

“Wait, why not?”

He scowled. “Because I’m going to.”

At this, Spider grinned sadistically. “Oh, now this I can’t refuse. Alex Oren, the stuck-up, know-it-all, uptight, dragon-ass-loving punk science bitch. Now that’s something I just can’t say no to. Don’t worry, son. We can have a rematch next. This has to come first.”

The two of them stormed their way over to the counter. Without even saying a word to Angelica, the level-1027, cat-eared NPC seemed to somehow already know what they were planning, as she quickly headed over to where Zach was still standing just in front of the entrance to the back-room, likely to retrieve the nullification grapes that would revert them to level 1. Both men were already stripping down to their underwear.

“Uh, Angelica?” he said, a sudden alarm traveling through him as something very important popped up in his mind. “If…if everyone’s here, then that means Olivir and Kolona are all alone with no one to talk to back at the camp. Do you think I could—”

“They’re already here,” she said, lifting her chin. “I’m a super-duper productive girl! I snuck away and gave him the buff right after I left you guys downstairs. I also told him you wanted to talk to him very badly and that you know you were being a total jerk to him.”

Zach cringed. “You told him that?”

“Mhm. I also told him that you were afraid he wouldn’t be your friend anymore.”

“And what did he say?”

She laughed. “He said you’re being an idiot.”

Zach shook his head, then rubbed his eyes. He felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. As Angelica pointed to a spot in the back-right corner of the tavern, he could now see that Olivir was sitting at one of the few booths in the place with Kolona by his side, his arm around her. And both looked…happy. They were having a very good time and in high spirits. He knew they’d love it here.

Quickly offering his thanks to Angelica, Zach moved as fast as he could across the tavern and headed towards them. Given that so many people were here, the area that consisted of the bar, dance floor, and dining area was larger than usual. As he’d observed once before, the tavern could actually expand to accommodate more people, something far too crazy for him to wrap his mind around trying to understand.

There has to be at least five-hundred people here tonight, he thought. Word must’ve spread that there was going to be a party here or something. So many people showed up!

Given just how few people in the world would ever level up or even see a mob—Ziragoth and yearly tournaments excluded—a very decent percentage of the adventuring community as a whole was probably here with them right now. Zach reasoned that there could not possibly be more than two, maybe three-thousand human adventurers in existence. Factoring out the Elves, his quick estimation—and he wasn’t exactly counting or anything—was that more than four hundred of the people here were adventurers.

That’s a lot considering there’s so few of us…

Over five-hundred million humans lived in North Bastia alone, and a billion lived in South Bastia. If Zach’s estimation was correct, and there were only two- or three-thousand human adventurers in the world, then that meant that adventurers only made up…assuming he was doing it right in his head, it was something like 0.0002% of the human population. For this reason, it deeply angered him that Adamus might have actually found a way to bring back spawn points, and rather than use it to safely respawn mobs and bring the world of adventuring to the public in a controlled, sensible, and reasonable manner, he planned to let random chance dole out favor or punishment.

What if a mob spawned in someone’s home? Even if they killed it, it’d just come back. Zach doubted the political guilds of today still knew how to destroy the spawn points. That meant anywhere a mob spawned—be it in the middle of a highway or even in a hospital—that was that. There would be no means of dealing with it outside of abandoning any spot they showed up in. And if Adamus had his way, they’d show up everywhere.

We need to stop that somehow, he thought. Donovan and Mr. Oren have to find a way. Otherwise, this means the end of civilization itself.

The more that Zach saw of this world of adventuring, and the more that he thought about things, he was slowly coming to the conclusion that the various races of Galterra had not been wrong for eliminating some of the spawn points. That had been the right thing to do, Zach now believed. What had been wrong was the way they had completely eliminated all of them: or almost all of them, rather. Especially since a great many were located in what were empty, unused places, such as the grasslands, where the raid was taking place tomorrow. These “middle of nowhere” places could provide willing, consenting people the opportunity to knowingly accept the risk to their lives in order to level up—and all without putting anyone else’s life in danger.

Zach believed that people had a fundamental right to build homes and live in safety. But, at the same time, others had a right to adventure, grow stronger, and improve themselves. Why did people of the past think it had to come down to one or the other? Maybe Zach was just being naive, but he really didn’t see why a compromise couldn’t have been reached. As long as areas with mobs were clearly marked, then there was no reason to rid of the world of something so important.

If I ruled the world, that’s what I’d do, he thought. I’d bring back the spawns, but only in places where it made sense and wouldn’t endanger anybody’s lives.

A chill went down his spine as he realized that it wasn’t outside the realm of possibility that he could actually one day rule the…

No, don’t think that. Don’t you dare.

Zach snapped himself out of the scary idea that had come to him and took a seat at the rounded booth where Olivir and Kolona looked up at him as though clearly waiting for his arrival. There was even a cherry cola on a napkin waiting for him. Angelica must’ve told Olivir that was his favorite.

“Hey,” Zach said, nervously scratching his head and taking a sip of his beverage. His pent-up worries begging for release, he launched himself straight into it. “Guys, look. I’m sorry. I really am. And I know that I—”

“It’s okay,” Olivir said. “We forgive you.”

“You…do?”

“Yes,” Kolona said. “I understand why you did the things you did. I just wish you’d have trusted us more.”

That they would just outright forgive him actually caused guilt to swell in his chest. “I’m sorry I made it look like I was siding with your enemy. And I’m sorry I acted like a barbarian in front of you two. But just so you guys know, that was the guy I told you about in Archian Prime. The one who murdered my dad.”

“It’s okay,” Olivir said. “I know you weren’t unjustified in going after him. And as far as the queen is concerned, the truth is we’ve also made peace with Queen Vayra.”

Zach widened his eyes in shock. “Wait, what?”

He nodded. “We’re allowed to go home now any time we want. We know what you did for us.”

“What I…did for you?” he asked.

“Yeah. She told us. About an hour ago, the queen came up to me and Kolona in the raid camp and told us you two had a long chat. She said that one of the main reasons you even agreed to speak with her in the first place was to convince her to end the war with me and Kolona and let us go home.”

That didn’t happen, Zach thought, astonished. I never even mentioned those two when I talked to Fylwen.

“I’m grateful for what you did.”

“Okay, but here’s the thing,” Zach said. “I never—”

“It’s okay, dude. We get it. You’re going through a hard time.”

It was in this moment that Zach realized that, despite knowing these two for a very short time, he already considered them true friends, because the dishonesty at the core of it all made him feel guilty and uncomfortable in a way that it wouldn’t have if he did not actually care about them. And though he hadn’t been the one to make up this lie, and though a part of him actually felt gratitude towards Fylwen for doing this, the lie that formed the basis of things just didn’t sit right with him.

“She lied to you,” Zach said, wanting to get the truth out there quickly and not delay the inevitable.

“About what?” Olivir asked.

Zach tensed. “I really do like you two. I don’t want to lose you guys as friends. It would be easy for me to let you think…that that’s what happened. But the truth is I didn’t talk about you two at all. I was so absorbed in my own hatred I never even considered the way my actions would make you feel. And the old me would’ve been happy to lie my way out of this—or let someone else lie for me. But here’s what really happened. I’ll tell you everything.”

Without a single interruption, Olivir and Kolona listened intently as Zach told them in great detail everything that had taken place between the moment he crash-landed down at the raid camp and the moment he’d returned a bit later with the Elvish queen. When he finished, he lowered his head in shame. “So, she’s only trying to make things better for me, but I feel too guilty to let you think I did something I didn’t.”

Right away, he knew he’d made a big, big mistake. The look of outrage and disgust on their faces was so intense that Zach could tell he’d not only lost two of what could possibly have been his most powerful friends, but he may have just made two terribly strong enemies. Or at least…at least that was his initial impression.

But then, out of nowhere, Kolona coughed. Then she coughed a second time. And before Zach realized what was happening, he realized she was bawling, tears running wildly down her eyes. Olivir hugged her. “So that’s what they did to our women,” she whimpered. “My mother was in that place with her, Oli!”

At first, their reaction left him feeling completely lost. But only then, in yet another display of his short-sightedness, did he realize that the look of revulsion on their faces was not meant for him—nor was it meant for Fylwen. It had been for the nightmare that the Elvish people had been subjected to. Zach hadn’t even intended for that to be the focus of his story, but it was the one they had honed in on.

This isn’t even about me, he thought.

As though sensing Zach’s uncertainty, Olivir looked at him, and now it was him who apologized. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t make that face because I’m upset with you. It was more about what you just said. You’re still our buddy, Zach. Everyone screws up sometimes. You were a bit insensitive to us, but it seems like you know that, so it’s all good by me. But what you told us…” He sighed. “I didn’t know it was that bad. Kolona wasn’t there for the worst of it, thank the Gods.”

“She wasn’t?”

“No. She and Kalana, they had it bad, don’t get me wrong. But both of them grew up as prisoners after Peter IV was already dead. The level of malice and evil they were subjected to was horrific, but it paled in comparison to what…to what came before.” He released a saddened sigh, one loud enough to be heard over the music playing in the background. This, as in the corner of his eyes, Zach saw Mr. Oren and Spider furiously swinging at each other with what looked like real animosity.

When Zach had fought Spider, none of the ruthlessness he now saw had been present, confirming that Spider really had just been trying to teach him a few important things about combat and fighting. And worse, he’d clearly been going easy on Zach. Right now, those two were hammering away at each other with a ferocity that made him feel uneasy. Lips were being split, eyes were being blackened, and blood was starting to fall. Angelica did not seem ready to stop it, either.

Returning his attention to Kolona, he said, “I’m sorry if what I said hurt you.”

“No,” she replied, wiping her eyes. “It’s important I know. It doesn’t change the way Queen Vayra killed and then later terrorized me, but it does make me feel…differently about it.”

“That was exactly my response,” Zach said. “I just don’t know how you can hate the woman after you find out something like that. What…what even happened between you and her, Kolona? Why did she kill you?”

Kolona lowered her head. “I don’t mean to be rude, Zach, but it’s not something I’m ready to talk about.”

“I understand.”

“But I agree with you. What Queen Vayra was subjected to makes it a lot harder to hate her.”

Olivir twisted his lips sourly. “Maybe. But remember: it doesn’t make what she did okay. She’s still responsible for her own choices.” Then, in a quiet and somewhat more reflective tone of voice, he said, “Even still, I can’t believe Pete turned out that way. Learning what he did really upsets me. That wasn’t the kind of person he used to be.”

Zach leaned forward in the booth so that his elbows were on the table, and then, looking around so as to ensure no one was overhearing them, he asked, “You knew him?” In an even quieter whisper, he said, “Peter IV?”

Olivir nodded. “Not only did I know him, he was an adventurer like you, Zach. I know this because he showed up in Archian Prime about fifty years ago. Back when he was around your age. I think he was fifteen or sixteen years old. He was a really good kid. I just…I don’t know what happened to him.”

“But how is that even possible?” Zach asked. “He was a political guy. I thought they can’t do that or something.”

The vampire shrugged. “Well, he sure did. He must’ve had that buff.”

“And what was he like?”

At this, Olivir stirred as though uncomfortable. “You might not wanna hear this, dude, but…he was a lot like you.”

Zach frowned, then downed his cherry cola in three quick gulps. “You’re right,” he said, wiping his lips. “I don’t want to hear that.”

“Anyways, there’s some stuff I need to tell you two at some point, but I can’t say it outright. It doesn’t have to be today, but eventually, at some point, I need you guys to follow me to…”

*****

“Whoah!” Pete said, looking every which way as Olivir led him through the great forests. “So the Elves live here too?”

Olivir laughed. “Yeah, it’s a secret colony of them. Hey, Pete, how’d you take down that raid boss by yourself? You scared me half to death when I saw you charging at it.”

“I didn’t even want to, Oli. It aggroed, and I thought it might come after you.”

Olivir was stunned. Not a lot of people would willingly risk their lives for a vampire they just met. “I appreciate it, dude.” Looking to change the subject, he asked, “How’s life on Galterra these days?”

“It’s changed a lot since you said you were last there. Are you really over a hundred-fifty years old?”

“Yep.”

“That’s awesome.”

The two of them continued their way through the forest. Olivir had agreed to be his sort-of “tour guide.” They’d run into each other by accident. Pete had gotten lost trying to complete some kind of quest he’d found back in the Rainbow Trails, and he’d gone in the completely wrong direction. Olivir, on the other hand, had been leveling with Grundor, who was currently running back to the estate to stash some surplus weapons they’d looted that wouldn’t fit into their Bank and Storages boxes, which after more than a hundred years of exploring, was naturally always full.

“Have you ever met an Elf before?” Olivir asked. They were nearing one of the villages, where the kind, peace-loving, white-cloak-wearing Elves would usually come out to greet him, hoping to trade or exchange stories.

“Oh, of course,” he said. “They live on a private resort secluded away from the public. My family ensures they’re left alone and undisturbed. I probably shouldn’t say this since my dad’s the king, but he’s kind of a dick and doesn’t let them leave. He doesn’t hurt them, but he doesn’t really treat them all that well either.”

“What do you think about them?”

Pete beamed with a happy smile. “I love them. I sneak out and spend time with them whenever I can. My dad tells me to leave them alone, but I’ve made friends with so many of them. If I ever become king, I’m setting them all free.”

“You must really like the Elves if you’re willing to do that.”

“I do! There’s even this one girl…”

“Oh?” Olivir asked, laughing.

“She’s amazing,” Pete said, stopping in his tracks. “Beautiful, smart, funny. And she’s so strong, too. Her name’s—

****

“Olivir?” Zach asked. His friend had sort of zoned out mid-conversation. Even after raising his head and meeting Zach’s eyes, Zach could see that something was off with him. He seemed adrift, lost in his own thoughts.

“It’s nothing,” Olivir said. “I was just thinking.”

He downed the glass in front of him: a drink he’d called bourbon. Since he was technically over two-hundred years old, Angelica had decided to let him have whatever he wanted despite him looking the same age as Zach. The same went for Kolona. Not that he minded. Her cherry cola really was great.

“Hey, Zach?” Olivir asked him. There was something off-putting in his voice, and Zach was taken aback.

“Yeah?”

Olivir smiled, though it appeared forced. “What do you think about the Elves? Just out of curiosity.”

Zach took another sip of his cola. That was an odd question.