<>(Zack)<>

Big Flame is ignoring me. He summoned me into his Sacred Temple, didn't say a word to me, and hasn't responded to me.

Sighing, I pull a stick out of my Inventory and throw it at his body. It bounces off, as expected.

But at least I have his attention, now. It's complete confusion.

"Thanks for finally noticing me here," I say. "Been trying to get your attention for the last, like, hour."

Sorry, he says. I'm focused elsewhere.

"Did you summon me here?"

Um… you weren't supposed to actually notice. That… that was a goof on my part.

"Gonna explain?"

He sounds really tired. Is this too draining for him?

I was sending you back to your home, since your vision wiped you out mentally, so you could get some rest sooner.

"Ah," I say. "Um… I'm kind of stuck here. Whatever barrier you've sealed yourself with is preventing me from leaving as well. It's not like Big Breeze's, where I can use the connection to my soul for the passage for life and death."

You… what?

"He didn't mention that?"

He told us that he summoned you to… oh, cool. He's a clever little guy. I like him. He's not as stiff as his twin.

"Anyway," I say. "Can I head home?"

Sure, gimme a second to divert some energy back there.

"You can use mine," I say. "In fact, you sound pretty tired, Big Flame – do you want to just drain my energy? I'm sure that with my increased amount of fire merged into my Sacred Crystal, it'd be a little useful to you."

Are you sure you want to do that?

"Yeah," I tell him. "You sound like you could use some energy, and while it probably won't be enough to really support you hugely, every little bit helps. Just… don't kill me or cripple me, so I can do it again sometime."

I wouldn't, and thanks, he says. And I promise that I won't draw on you too much, nor unless you ask for it.

That'd require me being able to contact you, you dolt.

A few moments after he finishes speaking, I feel my energy leave me.

Then… I wake in my room, on my bed, tucked in, in my nightclothes, with a heat pebble warming the air. Checking my Inventory reveals that all are there.

What the heck?

"Thank you, Big Flame," I send up a quick prayer to him, and as I do, I hear movement in the yard below.

I slide out of bed and walk to the window, looking out it, and see a boy standing by the tree, looking around. He locks his azure eyes with me, and I smile a little.

This is why Big Flame was sending me home – he wanted me to rest so I'd be awake this night, when the new guy showed up. That's the kid from my vision.

I turn from the window, quickly change, and meet him as he's walking up the stairs. He stops, staring at me.

"Hey," I say.

"Uh… hi," he says. "I just got here, and woke up in front of that tree."

"Big C likes to do that to people."

"I'm Bryce," he sticks out a hand.

Should I tell him I know that? And that he has 80 Health, making me jealous?

"Zack," I take his hand and shake it as he snorts. "Big C mentioned me, right?"

"Yeah," he laughs. "How'd you know?"

"I know how much he hates me," I answer. "And how much you would have annoyed him. He probably sent you here specifically because we're his irritants."

"Ah," he grins. "So how does this whole thing work?"

"Have you viewed your Status yet?"

"Yeah," he nods. "What does 'Dark of Fire' mean?"

"It means," I begin. "That you have an affiliation to the Crystal of Dark of Fire – he prefers 'Big Flame', though. Ever since I called him it. Unlike the other Crystals, he doesn't rarely speak with his worshipers, but rather, does it pretty frequently. Right now, though, he's pretty silent, as he's focusing on stuff dealing with the Shadow of Life. All of the Crystals are, actually, so they're all pretty sealed-off from us at the moment.

"How that 'alignment' is determined," I continue. "Is by your own personal Sacred Crystal, which is within you. It has a light core and a dark outside, the two merging about halfway in or out. Each of the four elements occupy that same space, and your 'alignment' is whichever element is merged into your Sacred Crystal the most, as well as which part of it it's merged into the most. For the two of us, it's fire, into the dark portion of it.

"That said," I add. "Even if you manage to sense your personal Sacred Crystal, you won't be able to sense the elements' merging, as it's that minute."

I give him some time to process that, and he nods almost immediately after.

"Got it," he says. "So Big Flame is our boss, or whatever?"

"Nah," I say. "He's just the one we align with the most. However, we're also naturals for Dark Knights, because of our affinity, and most of us end up taking it on at some point."

"What do Dark Knights do?" He looks concerned. "Are they evil?"

"Nah," I grin at him. "We're the absolute best! We can use our own Health as a weapon, and we even increase our power based on how much damage we've taken recently. We use rage to fuel our strength and use intimidation and taunts to deal with Monsters! We're just called Dark Knights because our power deals with shadows and blood and fire, but I promise: we're awesome as hell. Wanna work be one with me? You'd have to get Dark Squire, first."

"Sure," he grins. "That sounds fun. What do I need to do to get it?"

"Acquire Sword Mastery," I answer. "Rage, and Intimidate. Let's head down to the Trading Post and get you some starting equipment. We can get the pervert to give you two, even though the limit's one."

"The pervert?" He asks, and I grin at him. "What?"

"You'll love him," I say. "Come on."

"Alright," he says. "Is there a jacket or something I can wear? It's pretty cold."

"Sure," I pull my spare jacket out of my Inventory and hand it to him. "Come on."

I leave my house, and Bryce follows me. We chat on the way to the Trading Post, with me explaining a few things to him about the Boundary and answering any questions I can.

One Dark Knight on my team is awesome. Two Dark Knights on my team is overpowered madness. With the two of us working together, this valley will hold against the horde. Especially since we determine on the walk that he has Level 4 Martial Arts and Level 2 Knife Mastery, as well as Level 8 Right-Handed and Level 9 Left-Handed.

We may or may not have also taken some damage for slipping on the ice, but it's good training.

Gotta work on those reflexes, after all.

We reach the Trading Post and find Jesse leaving it, the sign saying it's closed. He stares at me.

"Told you he's a pervert," I tell Bryce.

"Yeah," he giggles. "He's definitely a pervert!"

"Stay open, Pervert," I tell Jesse. "We got a new guy, and he needs equipment."

"You're not very nice!" Jesse huffs.

"Stay open, or I'm telling Nik you stared at me lecherously."

Jesse huffs, but allows us inside. We walk up to the counter and he goes around it.

"Alright, Pervert," I say. "Bryce here needs a sword and a knife, and you're giving us those and ten loaves of bread, twenty apples, and fifty strips of jerky-"

"Hey!" Jesse exclaims. "I'm not a charity! I have to pay for this stuff out-of-pocket!"

"Do you want to keep your pockets?" I ask.

We argue for a few minutes, but he relents, giving in, then Bryce and I leave, wishing the pervert farewell.

"Wow," Bryce says as we begin the walk to the gate. "That was creepy! How did you manage to convince him to give that to us? How often do you have to do this?"

"Oh, he does it because he wants to make sure we're fine," I tell him. "He only pretends to be a scrooge about his inventory – I've flat-out just started to leave, not saying a word, because he wouldn't give me anything, and he stopped me before I reached the door and gave me some. It only works with us kids, though."

"Damn," he says. "He really is a pervert, then."

"Nah," I say. "He just dresses that way to deceive people – he's actually a really powerful adventurer."

"Are you sure?" He looks at me suspiciously, and I stop walking at the gate, turning to face him. "The way he dresses is creepy, and that high-pitched voice-"

"Is all an act," I say. "It deceives people who don't know him into thinking he's weaker, which makes handling them easier."

He doesn't appear to trust my word on that.

"You remember what I said about the Sacred Crystals?" I ask, and he nods. "The ones inside of each of us, I mean," he nods again. "I can sense them in everyone within a certain range of me, if I try hard enough. I've checked Jesse's, and it has one of the strongest merges I've ever seen, and he has three elements merged in – water, stone, and air. Of the dozens of people in this city I've checked the Sacred Crystals of, I've only seen one other person with a merging that strong or stronger – Nik."

"The Dark Knight here?" He asks.

"Yeah," I nod. "His elements merged in are fire, stone, and air – his latter two are merged more than Jesse's, and his fire's merged even more than Jesse's water is."

"What about me?" He asks.

"Most people," I say. "Are barely noticeable, if at all. A noble ass I saw during the morning today? Or, well, yesterday, since it's past midnight. I could barely even trace his merging of air. Yours? I can trace a little bit more fire than I could the ass's air. Most people have virtually none merged in, even with their aligned element."

"So you knew I aligned with Dark of Fire," he begins. "Before I brought it up?"

"It takes an immense amount of concentration I didn't bother with then," I shake my head. "I did it while we were walking into the Trading Post. Come on – let's go harass the Slimes. Once the day morning comes and we're rested and everything, I'll take you shopping for proper clothes and weapons, since the shops are all closed."

"I don't have any money," he says.

"I know," I say. "But I do, so you'll be fine. You're on my team, I'll take care of you."

He nods, then we head into the fields, where Spook Slimes try to startle us. He jumps the first time, slashing out with his sword, slicing at air. I laugh, blasting one with a Fireball, then telling him to stab it before it manages to cover its core back up.

Bryce does, and it's barely enough to damage the Slime. We try again and manage to kill it together. We hunt down more Spook Slimes, determining that they have the same acidic property as regular Slimes if they contact our skin or clothes.

We also hunt regular Slimes, a couple of Elemental Slimes, and a ton of the Special Slimes. The Turkey Slimes try to run away when attacked, while the Pumpkin Slimes just sit there, not even doing anything.

The Snow Slimes continue their snowball fights, sometimes throwing their snowballs at us. They team up if we attack them, their snowballs becoming a lot tougher, and sometimes launch icicles at us instead of snowballs. For the most part, though, the Snow Slimes leave us alone unless we attack them first.

As we start getting exhausted from the training – him more than me – we get our first drop. It came from one of the Pumpkin Slimes I butchered with a Fireball, then a knife to the core.

A pumpkin. I got a fucking pumpkin from it. Not, like pumpkin pie, or pumpkin cake, but a whole. Fucking. Pumpkin.

"Do you have the stuff to make pie or something?" Bryce laughs when I tell him.

"Not everything," I shake my head. "But I know how to make pumpkin pie. The trick will be managing it with the stuff from the Boundary. We pick the stuff up when we go shopping."

"The stuff from the Boundary?" He looks confused. "What do you mean?"

"I seem to know a little about cooking," I explain. "But sometimes, it's as if I'm missing something, or using a different type of heating element, than from before I died in reality. I'm not an expert or anything, though I am improving."

"Ah," he nods. "I feel like I'm ready to just drop, is it alright if we head back?"

"I was about to suggest it," I grin at him. "It's always good to know when to stop, and you seem like you need to."

He nods, then we begin the trek back to the house, the sun just beginning to rise when we reach town.