Tessa’s eyes flicked from him to his sister and back again in growing horror. An unladylike curse falling from her lips as everything clicked into place. “That’s why she reacted that way, and my father… oh my,” A second and far more profane example of impossible parentage, spewed forth.

Zack nodded and then continued with the tale. Desperate to get as much out as he could before the crumbling mental door fully collapsed. “Once I could go through the portal, they were free to change things up some. Magic works on the other side, after all. Only one researcher was also a traveler, but they only needed one to oversee everything and bring back proper notes. They could afford to be less careful by that point. Healing magic would fix most of the mistakes.”

The door in his mind holding everything back shattered. Tears crept down his cheeks as he forced himself to say one last thing. “I failed to protect her back then! When I was gone through the portal… the things they did to her were no less than what they did to me. I won’t fail her again. I won’t let some noble and his family who are all hopped up on idiot juice hurt her.”

Zack bowed his head, resting it lightly on the top of Zara’s. His throat was thick with emotion, and no matter how much he swallowed, it refused to clear. The tears continued to fall as a sob burst out and his entire body trembled.

It was a cathartic experience and washed away much of the frustration that had been building inside him lately.

“I won’t let the Albright’s hurt either of you if I can help it. After we get rescued, I’ll make sure that everyone knows you both are under my family’s protection.” Tessa told him once he had calmed down.

“Does that protection extend to your dad?” He asked sardonically. It was a nice gesture on her part, one that would be appreciated in making certain classes more bearable. If her father was really doing what Dorn said, then he wouldn’t be associating with her family for long.

“I,” She hesitated and looked away. “I don’t know. It would put you directly within dad’s vicinity, and it would only be a matter of time before he approached you. Regardless of the true nature of his research, you would prove incredibly enticing as a source of potential information.”

Zack blew his nose away from the two females, clearing away the trails of mucus clogging his ability to breathe. “Let’s wait until we get out of here before deciding anything. I appreciate the offer, I truly do.” He waved an arm around the dim room. “But, at the moment, nothing you say, or promise, has any real weight. Once we escape and depending on your father, if you are still willing, then I would definitely take the help and protection. There is only so much I can do for her alone.”

The light coming from the door dimmed as someone approached. The heavy footfalls were easily heard inside the room. The blood-smeared door opened without any further warning, and a group of four masked individuals surrounded Zack.

Tessa was pushed to the side and Zara was roughly shoved from his protective grasp and onto the floor. His arms were held tight as they hauled him to his feet without saying a word.

“Watch out for when she wakes!” Zack told Tessa in a rush as they forcefully removed him from the room. Behind him, he spotted a set of dual locking bolts and a bar that could be placed in front of the door.

They had been without a doubt locked securely inside the room. Not that it mattered in any way when you were being held hostage by a noble and an established organization. That particular combination made even attempting to escape an exercise in futility.

The gleaming white floor of the hallway led into an intersection of equally polished flooring, with the walls of each painted a different color. They carried him down, the one with a garish shade of purple paint on the walls.

Dorn was waiting for them when they arrived. He was alone and his nice clothes were gone, exchanged in favor of something that resembled the academy’s training outfit. The walls of the room were padded, though the floor was bare, hard concrete.

“I’ve been wondering something, and it has been bugging me ever since I saw you earlier.” Dorn casually walked closer to them. “What happened to all the lovely bruises I gave you before?”

A wave of cologne and minty breath washed over Zack as the larger boy inspected him closely.

“Let him go, I want to have some fun with him.” A sadistic smile crept over the noble’s face and thinned his eyes into gleeful slits. “I don’t know how you managed to get healed so quickly from the last beating. That just means, however, that I can do it all over again, and really take my time to do it properly this time.”

Zack burst into motion the second his arms were released. He had no chance of hurting the boy in the same way he had been and was going to be again soon. That didn’t mean he would simply pass up the chance to hit him when it was delivered on a silver platter.

With a speed faster than any of them had been expecting, Zack’s fist rocketed out and crushed Dorn’s nose. Smashing it flat at a severe angle and breaking the cartilage within the sensitive protrusion.

Dorn hopped back and grabbed his face, eyes watering from the pain. Drops of blood splattered down the front of his outfit and spilled to the floor. The pampered noble let loose a stream of ear-bending profanity that lasted for over a minute.

Zack smirked and ignored the pain in his fist and arms. The goons had grabbed him right after the punch landed. The grip they had on his arms was punishingly tight as they locked him in place.

“That’s for making my sister break her nose earlier, you piece-“ A knee to his side kept him from saying more.

“You’ll pay for that! I said let him GO!” Dorn screamed, rushing at them with a fist loosely formed.

They released Zack a second late, and the weakly formed fist slammed into the boy’s sternum with a crack. The blow had barely winded Zack, while several of Dorn’s fingers looked crooked. It was a rookie mistake that the noble should have known better than to make. His family had made sure the boy was trained in various fighting techniques in preparation for when he became a traveler.

None of that mattered when he lost control.

Cradling his hand, Dorn spun and kicked out with an effective twist of his hips. The heavy boot he was wearing slammed into Zack’s side with enough force to lift him onto the tips of his toes.

Zack retched and collapsed to the floor. Each breath was a struggle against the sudden pain in his side. It was a small miracle that none of his ribs had broken from the kick. It had taken less force than that to break one on the other side of his chest just days before.

Dorn took a moment to inspect his hand, grimacing when he saw how crooked a couple of them were.

Not paying attention to the boy, Zack put his hand on the ground and leveraged himself back into a standing position. “Is that why I was brought here? Just so you could show off and inflict some amateur grade torture?” He spit to the side, the bubble-laden liquid hot but clear. “I’ve been tortured before, and you can’t break me with something of this level.”

“We’ll see about that!” Dorn snarled.

The group of four watching the show had retreated to the far wall. They were no longer involved in whatever was to come. The job they were being paid for had already been accomplished. At least, as far as they were concerned. They weren’t being paid to beat and torture some kid they knew nothing about.

Zack fought back to the best of his abilities, showing a ferocity that shocked all in the room. He was a magic-user by class, but there had been a few times when he had run out of magic. Especially in the beginning. When that happened, he had needed to be able to escape or defend himself in other ways. Running away had been the preferred option when he was younger.

That had changed after their rescue. Running away from other people turned out to be more difficult than it was with monsters. They could think, work together with others, and more. He had by necessity learned to use his fists and feet to fight them off. It was all self-taught, but it was effective regardless. The small amount of training he had gotten from Rose in the training class had only enhanced that.

It wasn’t enough. Not against a fully trained and much larger opponent.

Going through the portal had healed his body to a large extent, and the trip through it had been beneficial in many ways. In the end, it had simply been too short to heal years of malnourishment and injuries.