<>(Zack)<>

"Brrr!" Bryce shivers, and I look at him in his cocoon.

Last night, when we went to bed, I started heading here, my usual spot at the fire pit, out of habit, and ended up explaining to him why, as well as why I was in my room when he showed up. He decided to join me down here, wrapped up in his own blanket.

Unlike me, with my knees pulled up to my chest to compact my body, he slept with his legs stretched out, bent slightly. That means his heat wasn't as retained, even if he did stay wrapped tightly. His feet are probably freezing.

"My feet are freezing," he complains to me.

See?

"That's why I was in the fetal position," I tell him, and he gives me a funny look. "The position I was in, with my knees up to my chest. Keeps the warmth around your body better. Spread out like that, not so much."

"Ah," he says.

We wiggle around until we manage to escape our cocoons, then we change into day clothes and pull on our boots and jackets. Bryce stokes the fire a bit, adding some wood to it.

Making the fire last night reminded me that I still haven't gotten an ax to chop wood with, meaning that we're still using whatever I can just break into pieces that would work.

I mean, I could use my hands to break the wood into proper-sized chunks, and probably just do a chop with the side of my palm, considering my current Strength, but…

I'd rather use an ax.

I start a cooking fire and get to work on making eggs and cutting fruit, then we eat it. As we're cleaning our dishes, Jackson arrives, stopping at the entrance to the yard. He's carrying something wrapped in a cloth, probably my weapons, though it looks like he added to them. The rest are probably just swords he's bringing to the shop that he kept at home or repaired at home or something.

"Come on in," I tell him, and he enters. "Thanks for repairing them."

"You're welcome," he sets the bundle down on the table, unwrapping the weapons. I take my sword and knife and attach them as he gestures to the other two items. "Rather than using real weapons to practice your fighting, I made you two wooden practice swords and knives. These will allow you to practice without having to care for your own weapons after, as they're made of wood. They'll last you awhile as well."

"Thanks," I say. "How much?"

"No charge," he answers. "I'm making them to help two youths thrown into the Boundary, and it didn't take me much time or any money to do, so it's not a hit to me, either."

"Thanks," I say.

He nods, then starts to leave.

"Hey, wait!" I exclaim, and he turns to face me. "Do you know if Nik's party already left for the mines?"

"Indeed," he nods. "They were discussing the implications of something they were told, though I didn't catch who had said it. I don't think anyone but Nik and Theodore know that source, meaning it's likely your patron, even if the Crystals are a bit silent right now."

Actually, it's probably what I told Theodore.

"Do you know what it was?" I ask.

"The likelihood," he answers. "That they were going to lose five or six of their members with Fallen Adventurers showing up during the fight. I'm not sure how they got word of this, but their source must have really made it seem likely that they would face them. It's possible someone had noticed activity down there while scouting in preparation, but I can't help but think it was your patron."

You're off a bit. It's really a psychic thirteen year-old.

"Thanks," I say. "I hope they heed the warning well."

He nods, then wishes us well and leaves.

Once he's gone, Bryce and I shed our jackets to spar with the training swords. I push him hard, and by the time we stop training overall for lunch, he's managed to acquire Sword Mastery.

After lunch, which does consist of meat, even if it's just jerky, we pull our jackets back on, then head down to the market street and make our way to Jackson. I forgot to ask him something while he was at our house.

"Hey, boys," he says. "Back already?"

"I dunno," Bryce says. "Zack just dragged me here."

"Do you have any axes," I ask. "That would be good for chopping wood? I keep forgetting to get one."

"I do," Jackson nods. "There are a few over there," he indicates an area of the shop to my left. "They'll be in a chest."

"Thanks," I tell him, then walk over to that section.

I look through the chests until I open one with a rack of axes. They're mostly the same, but I still test each one's swing before picking one and approaching the counter. It's tagged for ten silver. We start haggling with him, and this time, he actually does try to not go too low.

I still manage to buy it for two silver, eighteen copper.

After thanking Jackson, we leave his shop, and I turn to face Bryce.

"Do you want," I ask. "To go hunt Slimes and see if we can't get more Special Item Drops, go hunt Goblins and gather some wood to chop up, or see what we need to acquire the Chef Subclass, so we can get that Chef Storage."

"You said the Spook Slimes are around only for about a week?" He asks.

"That's what I was told."

"I want to hunt those," he tells me. "Get their candy. Plus – I wanna see if I can get Intimidate!"

I nod, then we race out of the City and start hunting Slimes, with Bryce and I threatening them with all sorts of things. Most of them ignore the intimidation attempts, but we have fun anyway.

We have better results from normal types of Slimes than we do Special Slimes, determining that their higher stats definitely mean they have stronger wills.

Even if the Snow Slimes really like their snowball fights.

"Stop that!" I yell at the one that just hit me with a snowball. I scoop up some snow and quickly shape it into a ball. "Take this!"

I throw the snowball at the Snow Slime, which dodges, then does a little wiggle.

"Um," Bryce giggles. "Is it just me thinking this, or did it look happy that you threw a snowball at it?"

The Snow Slime launches another snowball at it, and it looks like the kind it uses against the others of its type. I allow it to hit me, confirming that it really is just a regular snowball.

I look at Bryce.

"Yes," I say. "It was doing a happy dance at me doing that."

"Do they seriously have no issue with a snowball fight with people set out to kill them?"

I shrug, then dodge another snowball. Bryce and I start making our own and throwing them at the Snow Slimes, which throw their own back at us, never performing actual attacks.

Once we start wearing out, I summon Fireballs and start killing the Snow Slimes, because this shit's exhausting. A snowball fight is fun and all, but two hours of it?

Those things are good.

Bryce and I return to our home to eat dinner, then do some light exercises before taking a bath and heading to bed. Well, floor.

We go through the usual routine upon waking, then make our way out of the City to hunt more Slimes, breaking at lunch to sit on a rock we cleared of Slimes and Rats.

Bryce managed to obtain Intimidate against the Rats. All he has left now would be Rage.

We grind for a few more days before Bryce finally acquires Rage, allowing him to take on Dark Squire. He grins at me, then gives me a fist-bump.

"At last!" He exclaims.

"Yep!" I nod. "Damn, these Special Slimes are tough, too! Especially once they start gaining Levels!"

It looks like Special Slimes gain Levels at the same rate as regular Slimes – one every day. And that means that we got to fight some Level 5's today, which were not fun. The single one we fought, a Level 5 Turkey Slime, took almost everything we had to kill. I'm wiped-out, and Bryce couldn't really do anything to it.

I got a Whole Turkey as an Automatic Loot, though, which means we can celebrate a bit more for his achievement than we could have without.

I mean, we could have anyway, but this one's bigger than the other two I acquired and was saving. The stronger the Slime, the better the reward, after all.

Done with our grinding today, we race back to town and to our home, where I immediately get to work preparing a feast. A seasoned turkey cooked on a spit, a salad, mashed potatoes, stuffing, fruit salad, pumpkin pie, the works.

I work my damned hardest to make this meal to the best of my ability, using what I've learned so far from my mistakes here to prepare it better. Gaining a Class is something to celebrate, especially when it's for Dark Knight.

As I finish preparing and tabling the meal, a message appears in my vision.

New Subclass Available: Chef To have not just learned the art of cooking, but to have used your past mistakes to improve upon your culinary skills and create a feast worthy of eating, you have proven your worth in the kitchen. Accept Decline

Uh, excuse me? A feast worthy of eating? Is the System message insulting anyone who doesn't have this Subclass? Or at least, have the ability to take it on?

Yes.

Fuck off.

No, you.

Seriously, Big S?

Yes.

I snort, shaking my head.

"What?" Bryce asks.

"Big S is being smart with me."

"Which one's that?"

"The System itself."

"Ah," he says. "What did it do this time?"

"Got smart with me via System messages," I answer. "Anyway, I finally gained the ability to take on the Chef Subclass. Ignoring the insult, it appears that it requires making a pretty good feast to unlock, in addition to improving upon your abilities by learning from your mistakes."

Does that mean natural chefs have a harder time unlocking it, since they're likely to make less mistakes? Or does it factor in their natural ability?

Yes.

Fuck off.

No, you.

Dismissing Big S's smartass response, I sit down to eat, and Bryce and I dig in.

This is definitely the best meal I've cooked in the Boundary so far. I'm glad, too, because I haven't cooked turkey like this before, nor with these seasonings, so I wasn't sure.

We spend two more days grinding without a change to our routine, because the Spook Slimes haven't stopped spawning yet, as evidenced by the number of Level 1 ones around each morning. I'm getting impatient for Nik's team to return, too.

Especially after the night's dream-vision thing a couple of nights ago, after Bryce managed to acquire Dark Squire.

I had a vision of Nik getting skewered by the Demonic Kobold King. A Nikebab is not something that makes for easy sleeping. With Big Flame out of communications for awhile, and no one able to contact the team in the mines, I can't sleep well.

"Everything okay?" Bryce asks, startling me from my thoughts.

I zoned out again.

"Yeah," I nod, then think for a moment, looking around. "Make sure no Slimes attack me."

"Got it!" He says, then charges the Fire Slime only a few yards away. "Diiiiie!"

Focusing, I decide to force another vision. This time, I focus on seeing how Nik currently is, much like I did with Big Flame. Whether or not it shows me the truth or a potential version that didn't happen is up for grabs.

Hopefully, it shows me the truth.

My power flows, flexing, and I sense it this time as it does. It's linked to my Sacred Crystal in some way, though I can barely sense that.

Then, the vision hits.

Nik, resting against the wall of a cave, blue crystals glowing, providing a dim light. A fire burns in front of Nik, around which are gathered twelve other Adventurers, all of them looking quite grim. Nik himself is shirtless, his broad shoulders and muscled body covered in injuries bandaged up, despite the Boundary's healing rates. I can see blood that seeped through the bandages, and the powerful Dark Knight looks grim.

Looking at the team, I see two other Dark Knights, including Theodore. Then, four magicians, two Paladins, and four wearing cloaks that remind me of a rogue's. Two of them have a quiver of arrows on their backs.

All thirteen of the Adventurers look tense, uneasy.

"Has it healed any?" One of the rogues asks.

"A little," Nik grimaces. "But not much. The Curse of the Fallen is powerful. Once we make it to the surface, I'll be able to get the antidote."

"Is there an alchemist anywhere close enough?" A Paladin asks. "It'll still be a day, minimum, before we reach the surface. The Curse of the Fallen takes three days to work fully. Unless you're in a Holy Temple, you'll-"

"I'll be fine," Nik interrupts. "As long as we make it to Maelnor in time, I'll be fine. Blaine always keeps extra on-hand. If the damned things hadn't destroyed the ones we brought, we wouldn't have an issue."

They weren't in Nik's Inventory? Why not?

"How did he know?" The other Paladin asks. "The kid, I mean. How did he know that there would be Fallen Adventurers arriving?"

"Zack isn't like normal kids," one of the magicians says. "He's progressed unusually fast, and Nik came to us to discuss his dreams before."

"The kid dreams?" The Paladin asks. "Adventurers don't-"

"Zack does," Nik interrupts. "His dreams are potential futures. This has been confirmed by Lord Dark of Flame himself. He had a vision of us fighting the damn thing and told Theodore about it, warning him of the potential future he saw. The ones he sees are among the most likely ones, according to our patron, even if not always the most likely one. That was why we came prepared, just in case."

"And yet," Theodore begins to add something.

The vision ends there, my power out. I drop to my knees, and Bryce rushes over to me.

"Are you okay?" He asks, concern in his voice and on his face. "Your eyes went violet for a few seconds, and then…"

"Yeah," I hold out a hand. "Help me up."

He does, and I tell him we should be heading back town. When we're about halfway there, a Spook Slime jumps into the path a few yards ahead of us, bouncing and jiggling.