Chapter Thirty.

<>(Zack)<>

Gold's keeping to just behind me, his gaze fixed on the ground, as we walk through the market area. We're getting a few stares from people I don't recognize, while the ones I do know look somewhat amused.

As we're walking, I spot a familiar face.

"Adam!" I exclaim, and the knight turns to face me, eyes widening. "Hello!"

He looks terrified as I stride over to him.

"Have you been avoiding me?" I ask.

"No," he answers. "No, I haven't. I've just been busy with training and the mines."

"Uh-huh," I hold out a hand. "Cough it up."

"Do you know how hard it is to earn a gold?" He asks.

"Do you know how easy it was for me to hit master Dark Squire in a month?" I smile, and he sighs, pulling out a gold coin and placing it in my hand. "Thanks, Adam! You're a dear! Though I totally should charge you interest for taking so long!"

He turns pale.

"Don't worry, though," I say. "I'm in a generous mood, which will continue to remain that way if the asshole who tried to steal part of my reward yesterday decides not to push having me arrested with the knights he brought over after spotting me walking towards you."

I turn around and smile at the asshole, noticing his hand's regrown.

"It's not like the Priests at the temple couldn't regrow your hand, right?" I ask, and he turns crimson with anger. "Watch it, boy – you're going up against a full-fledged Dark Knight who's solo'd two Holiday Bosses, wiped out thousands of Monsters, and faced down an Avatar of the Shadow of Life himself. Hey, Adam – what do you think the odds are that I can take him and the two knights he's brought over?"

"Will you stop antagonizing people?" Nik asks, and I look over at him.

"You saw him try to steal part of my reward yesterday."

"And?"

"What do you think the odds are that I can take him and the two knights he's brought over?"

"Binding Darkness," he sighs, and I find tendrils of darkness wrapping around me.

So that is the Skill's name. Theodore used it without speaking. Hrm. Maybe he whispered it? Nik's got one over my mouth, probably to keep me from running it as well. Gold looks terrified.

"Please," Nik tells the knights. "I'd rather not have to deal with the paperwork involved in fighting you. You're new to this town, so let me let you know in very clear terms: Zack has earned his gold tags, and if he wanted, he could purchase the diamond ones. All of that is money he's earned himself. He advances and grows at an accelerated rate, and is one of the favored of the Crystal of Dark of Flame, and-"

WHY DID YOU NOT CALL ME 'BIG FLAME'?

Everyone around us jumps, including Gold, who whimpers.

"-has given our lord a nickname he insists on being called," Nik continues the moment the outburst is done. "Communicates with our lord regularly, has done more for the war in the two months he's been here than three of you have in your entire lives, has-"

Tendrils of darkness surround the would-be thief.

"-continued to surprise people every day," Nik sighs, looking at me. "Dammit, Zack. I said don't antagonize them."

I talk through the tendrils, though my words come out muffled.

"I'm not sure I want to know what you just said."

I told him that I can't help it.

"Anyway," Nik looks at the men as the asshole tries to break free. "Put simply: Zack is not on your level. He's above it. And you will not arrest a Dark Knight of his caliber for defending his things. This man," he gestures to the bound asshole. "Tried stealing part of Zack's reward, which is generally frowned upon by society in the first place, but is an even greater crime to a Dark Knight. Now. Would you like to arrest Zack? Or would you like to deal with the Order of the Dark Flame??"

You Have Broken Free

The tendrils around me slip off of me, fading away as they do, and Nik glances at me, snorting.

"That was easier than I thought," I comment.

"How did you even break out of them?" He asks.

"I tried really, really hard."

"You weren't even struggling."

"Mentally."

"Uh-huh."

Nik turns his gaze back to the knights and the asshole. There's a crowd watching, a mix of new people and old. Is it some holiday or something? How come no one's in the mines?

"So," Nik says. "What will it be? Take your arrogance elsewhere, or challenge the Dark Knights for defending what's theirs?"

The Knights back off, and Nik glances at me. I shrug, releasing my Binding Darkness, and the rogue takes a few steps back.

"Smart move," Nik says, then raises his voice "Listen up: now that Zack has woken and is ready to fight again, the forest is his. If you wish to continue to hunt there, leave Maelnor and return to deeper within. Otherwise, join us in our attempts to reclaim the mines. Your assistance in the forest is no longer needed. Make sure this is known throughout by dusk. Now begone! All of you!"

The crowd begins to disperse, and Nik waits as they do.

"So," I look at Nik once they're back to doing whatever. "Did you say the Skill's name with the thought I might be able to figure it out?"

He smiles at me, snorting slightly.

"Got it," I say. "Nik, meet Gold. He's a Beastborn I rescued last night. Gold, meet Nik. Nik's the guy who trained me. He's a good guy at heart… but can be really, really rough, tough, and mean if you get on his bad side. Or are Monsters. Or get on his bad side. We're both Dark Knights. As you probably know, Dark Knights aren't like other Adventurers – we have exceptions no one else does."

We're also the best, of course.

"How does he have access?" Nik asks. "I've never heard of one having it before."

Is he the first?

Yes.

"He's the first," I tell Nik.

"And how does he have access?"

"I owe Big S," I respond. "He hasn't decided what yet, though."

The fact that, at his core, he isn't a fighter makes things difficult.

What does that have to do with anything?

Big S doesn't respond.

"Alright," Nik looks amused. "Hello, Gold. The lack of a collar and your age tells me that Zack has freed you from your slavery. Is that correct?"

Gold whimpers, but nods to the Dark Knight.

"Pleasure to meet you," Nik tells him. "I'm sure Zack will treat you right. Zack – please do your best to not antagonize the new people."

"I barely know half of the old people," I tell him. "How I am supposed to differentiate them from the new?"

"Zack…"

"Nik…"

"Do you want a butt-whupping?"

"No, Father."

Nik stares at me, unsure how to react to my completely serious response. It wasn't intentional, it just slipped out… my real father made that threat a few times, and that was the proper answer. It also meant to behave after, or a real butt-whupping would come.

Nik seems like a father to me, and while he's not like my real father… it's hard to break some habits.

"You seem to show up at the oddest times."

"Big Flame," Nik sighs. "Said that you might need some assistance. Would you please do your best to not antagonize new people? I heard about your incident with the team at your house last night."

"They were harassing me," I state. "Making fun of me, and making comments I wasn't happy with. They were extremely condescending. I want them gone. All of the new people. They aren't needed, and they're too full of themselves. You guys didn't look down on me for being a child – you recommended I go further in and get stronger. They just see a child. I'm not just a child, I'm a Dark Knight, and I'm a damn good Adventurer!"

I kick the ground in my anger.

"Go to the Dark Temple," Nik tells me.

"But-"

"Go," Nik says. "Pray the altar, meditate somewhere, I don't care what, but go in there and calm yourself. I'll let you know when you can leave."

"But-"

"Now, Zack," Nik orders. "I will keep an eye on Gold and make sure he's taken care of."

Grumbling, I turn and march to the Dark Temple, making my way to one of the meditation chambers. I sit down on the ground, then switch to lying after just a few minutes, staring at the dark ceiling above me.

For what feels like an hour, I focus on nothing but the image of a violet flame in my mind. That helps me calm down some, but I'm still frustrated.

I wasn't strong enough to protect Bryce. All these new people look down on me just because I'm a child; they don't even care about my Class or Health and Mana. There's so much outside of my power right now.

I need to get stronger. A lot stronger. I could use my free Levels right now to acquire what's needed to hit the end of the road for this Class, but I want to save them for Blood Priest. I want to speed through that one, doing just enough to get the Skills to what they need to be, then using the free Levels to just push past. I want to be a Dark One by the end of the year.

If he's joining my team when he arrives, as the visions predict, then I'm going to need to be able to protect him. I need to protect Gold. I need to kill Monsters and make the Shadow of Life pay for what he's done to me and the Crystals and those children Big Flame talked about.

I don't care that my predicted destiny is only to change the tide of war – I want to rip out the throat of the war and shove it where the sun don't shine. I want to pound it into the ground and make the Shadow of Life pay for what he did.

I want to prove that even we children can be valuable assets, despite not looking like it. This isn't like Reality. We're all on the same grounds, in the same System.

My temper's slipping away from me again. Taking several deep breaths, I visualize the violet flame until I calm once more, then stand and leave.

Next, I make my way to the Altar of Darkness, pulling out the heart of the Frost Goblin, realizing that I should have grabbed the Turkey Patriarch's heart yesterday. Dammit. I'll have to wait until the next Holiday Boss shows up, or another Special Boss of some sort. That means I'll be waiting about a month, minimum, probably, to sacrifice a Vice to create my Demon Familiar.

"O Mighty Flame of Darkness," I say, setting the heart on the altar. "Please accept my offering to you."

The flames swirl around the heart, eating the blood off my hand as I pull it away. The heart burns, disappearing as it does, and I sense Big Flame's content with that. He doesn't respond, but I know he's accepted it.

Sighing, I leave the chamber and make my way to one of the bedrooms, changing into night clothes and lying down, even though it's barely noon, now.

Closing my eyes, wrapped in the blanket and feeling comfortable, I start to relax. As I do, I decide to work on merging my elements once more, and look within myself.

When I do, I'm startled by what I see.

No wonder it's called the Blood Scar…

It damaged my Sacred Crystal. There are four long, vertical scars on one side, though it looks almost as if they were originally gashes, but then something melted them closed. The scar of violet flames looks the same as it was before, and yet…

Somehow, I used fire – that fire, maybe – to heal the wound, even if it left another series of scars on my Sacred Crystal.

In addition to the Blood Scar's scar on my Sacred Crystal, there's more. Two elements have merged into it more, and by a lot. Fire is nearly triple what it was before, and Stone… eight times as much, though still nowhere near Fire's amount of merging.

Summoning that Meteor… I really did pull within myself and transcend my limitations, didn't I? Just what kind of an effect is this going to have on me long-term?