“I was getting to that and shut up!” Quinn shot back at his least favorite pupil. “As I was saying before, the student who now has three detentions, spoke up.”

He ignored the loud protestations and simply spoke over them. “Things are not as simple as they appear. Getting to the mountains is relatively easy, as long as you are at a high enough level. Beast attacks grow in frequency the closer you get to them, though they are mostly easy to kill. The real problem lies with the mountains themselves, and the beasts that inhabit them.”

“There is a sudden jump in the strength of monsters between the edge of the forest and the foot of the mountain.” He stopped and peered out over the class. “I think I should also take this chance to remind you of your compatibility ratings and all that they entail.”

“Some of you.” There was a non-subtle look towards a specific student. “Are under the impression, that getting to a high-level and racking up an insane amount of stats is easy. Let me just correct that for you now. It isn’t. Every level you get after reaching your ‘Regular Class’ will be slow and only achieved through constant hard work and effort. Few of you will ever get to your ‘Specialist Class’.”

He let that sink in for a moment. “Let’s do the math real quick. From levels two to four, you will only get one stat point at each level. Beginning with level five, you get two, then at level ten, you get three. Even if you reach level twenty-four, the level before where you would get your ‘Specialist Class’. You would have only gotten fifty-eight points total.”

“Each of those points will get spread across your attributes with the bulk centered on your primaries. Still, remove whatever vague idea you have of flying in the sky, or jumping higher than a building. Those feats are limited to those with special classes, the aberrations, and the few who get to level twenty-five and above.” He coughed. “Now, going back to what I was saying before this distraction.”

Zack tuned him out, lost in his own thoughts. He hadn’t been aware of that before. Due to the quirks of his own aberration class and race, the number of points he got was greater than normal. It had been the same for Zara.

There was one more thing that Quinn hadn’t mentioned. The restrictions on point placement during a travelers training period, which lasted until level ten. During that period, a traveler could only freely place their points on even levels. On odd levels, they were forced to only place them in the attributes their classes majored in. Sure, you could save each point and only allocate them once you reached the next level, but that is a risky move for most people. Not to mention just being plain stupid.

His mind returned to the lesson in time to hear Quinn dismissing the class. He could only hope he hadn’t missed anything too important during that time.

Edith was holding a letter and sitting down when Zack arrived to pick up Zara. “What have you gotten yourself involved in now?” She asked, passing him the letter.

It was a simple hand-written note, letting her know that Zack and Zara would be gone for the next couple of days. What had her worried was the wax sigil at the bottom.

“I don’t recognize the sigil.” Zack passed the letter back to her.

“I’d be worried if you did. It belongs to one of the king’s hidden advisors. The only information we know about the person is the sigil they use, and that supposedly, they might be a female.” She was clearly worried for them.

Zack was quiet as he, and Zara walked back to their dorm. This had to be another move in whatever game Tessa and her mother were playing. It made no sense otherwise for them to use that crest instead of their family’s normal one.

“Where are we going?” Zara asked him, once the door to their dorm had closed.

“Tessa is coming to pick us up, I would guess that her mother and father want to talk to us.”

“But doesn’t that mean that her mother is the king’s hidden advisor?” Zara was quick on the uptake. “Does that mean that it is actually the king behind the meeting, then?”

“I don’t think so. I’m pretty sure this is some weird game and power-play her family is doing.” He shrugged. “Who can say for certain, though? Make sure you pack an overnight bag, with enough clothes for two days.” It was pointless to tell her to pack something nice. The nicest clothes they owned were the uniforms the school had provided.

“What about Zelda and George?” She held up George for emphasis.

He hesitated, not sure how to answer. The mere fact that Zara was willing to leave her comfort zone like this was impressive. Asking her to leave the stuffed animals that protected her emotional and mental safety was going too far.

“I’ll carry George, and you can carry Zelda.”

“Thanks!” She hugged him and then ran to her room to begin packing.

Zack was in awe at how much she had changed within the last couple of weeks. There had been no hesitance after she confirmed that her bears would be coming with them. He knew that a large part of that was because she would be going with him. It was a marked improvement for the scared girl, who almost always refused to even leave the apartment.

He wondered what had caused such a large change in her. Had it been Edith, the general stability their life now possessed, or was it something else? In the end, it didn’t matter. The only things that mattered were that she was happy and safe. If she was indeed making progress in overcoming the trauma and mental blocks it had created, then that was even better.

He took a quick shower and changed into some of his older and comfortable clothes, noting that most of them no longer fit. The muscles of his lean body weren’t the problem, it was the surprising realization that he had grown. The hem of his pants was now hanging an inch above the top of his shoes. It was a good thing that they had made his uniform with future growth in mind.

Zack took a moment to separate the clothes that no longer fit and set them to the side. Instantly, his stock of wearable clothes shrank to a single pair of pants and three shirts. That was not counting his school uniforms, which is what he nearly always wore now.

He threw the other two shirts in his bag, along with some underclothes and a spare uniform, before zipping it shut. They would need to go shopping for clothes at some point in the near future. That thought lasted until he remembered the state of their funds. Zara had been keeping track of their money, but neither of them had gone to their part-time job for several days. They would be lucky if the job was still waiting for them when they returned from wherever Tessa was taking them.

Zara was waiting for him, with both bears at her feet, when he finished and joined her at the entryway of their dorm apartment. She was playing with her lower lip and staring at the floor. “You said this was all a game and power-play with Tessa’s family. She was also the reason you got attacked and injured.” She squeezed both lips together and glanced up at him. “Did they set all of that up, or expect it to happen?”

Zack picked up George and brushed off any dirt that may have gotten on him. “That is likely the case. I spoke with Tessa this morning, and the impression I was getting was that they were expecting something to happen to me. Her mother is the king’s hidden advisor, one of them at least. There may be more. It’s supposed to be this big secret, and yet if you remember, the night of the attack, she mentioned her mother. It wasn’t anything concrete, but it was a comment that laid the groundwork for what she would tell me this morning.”

Zara frowned, not completely understanding what he was saying. “So, she sat at the same table as you, in full view of everyone knowing what would happen?” She stamped her foot and glared at him. “Why are we going anywhere with these kinds of people? They can’t be trusted, and we won’t be able to protect each other if they do anything!” Her voice had risen throughout her impassioned speech until she was yelling.

Behind her, a tentative knock came from the front door.

With a growl, Zara kicked her old, shabby bag and spun to open the door. “What?” She screamed.

An embarrassed Tessa was standing there, with a stiff man wearing a dark suit standing behind her. “Are you ready?” She asked them after a moment of silence.

“How much did you hear?” Zack picked up George and then his sisters’ bag, tucking it alongside his own shabby bag. His arms were now full. It would be up to Zara to carry Zelda, just like they had agreed earlier.

“Just the last few words,” Tessa responded uncertainly. “Um, I, uh… Ben, would you take their, um, bags?” She was flustered and stumbled over the words.

The man behind her stepped forward with a stony face and forcefully took the bags from under Zack’s arm.