(Zack)

"I'm sorry," Jackson says to the knight at his counter. "But I do have a backlog. There are two more smiths in town, with more coming in over the next few weeks. If you'd like something finished for you before then, either go to them, or look at what I have in stock. However, I have enough work to take up the next two weeks."

The knight grunts, then starts looking around the shop.

"Hey, Zack," Jackson smiles at me.

"Hey, Jackson," I grin at him. "I know it's last-minute, but I didn't think of it until I was getting some groceries. I was wanting to commission a spear, too. Once I master up Warrior, I'll be taking on Spearman."

The knight in the room snorts at my comment, and I choose to ignore it.

"Sure," Jackson says. "What do you want it made out of?"

"The same alloy as my other stuff," I tell him. "Speaking of, I was wondering the progress on that?"

"It'll be about a day before I can finish it," he tells me. "Another day if I add your spear to it, which I'll do for you."

"No worries," I tell him. "I'm actually heading out for some advanced training the next few days."

"Nik's told me where you're going," Jackson says. "That is not 'advanced training'. That is 'you're being you again'."

"Yeah, it is," I grin at him. "Thanks, Jackson."

"You're welcome," he says. "Do you know how long you're heading out for?"

"I can probably be there a week or so?" I answer, then shrug. "I just got a bunch of groceries for the trip. I'll return once I feel it's time to. If I get near Power Jump again-"

Asshat snorts again.

"-I'll probably return," I continue. "I'm not sure how easy it'll be for me to hit it again, and as much as Nik tried to talk me out of going there, I'm going anyway."

"What?" The asshat finally decides to talk. "You really think you can hit Power Jump multiple times? At your Level? Just who do you think you are?"

I look him, then roll my eyes and look at Jackson.

"Are most of the Adventurers who haven't stayed here awhile assholes?" I ask. "Or do I just attract them? This Level 86 moron can't even see my Level, and assumes… what?"

Jackson snorts and his expression and the sense I get from his mind tells me I'm forgetting something.

"Age," Jackson reminds me.

"Yeah, yeah," I roll my eyes. "We'll go with that. Anyway, I need to get going home so I can be rested and ready for when Nik comes to take me there."

"Are you ignoring your superiors?" The man asks.

"Are you suffering from a superiority complex?" I ask.

"Listen here, you little shit-"

Yeah, I really do attract the morons.

Before he can continue his little bitchfest, I'm behind him, my legs wrapped around his waist, one arm around his chest, my free hand holding a knife at his throat.

"No," I say in a low voice in his ear. "You listen here, Grant. I'm a Level 170 Dark One. I've taken on some of the biggest, baddest monsters around. I've survived an attack orchestrated by the Shadow of Life himself and have defied explanation every moment since I woke in the Boundary. If you ever attempt to bitch at me again, ever belittle me, talk to me condescendingly, or whatever, I will slit your fucking throat. Do I make myself clear?"

He gulps in response.

"I asked a question," I prick his neck with my knife.

"Y-yes."

"Good," I say, then push as I release him, landing on my feet as he stumbles forward. I return my knife to my hip. "And that, asshat, is what it's like to have Intimidate used on you by someone thirty Levels your senior. And keep in mind that I'm not the scariest thing around."

I walk back over to the counter and look up at Jackson.

"I'll see you when I get back," I tell him. "Thanks."

He wishes me luck, then I leave. I decided to wait until I reach Talorn to up Warrior, after all. To hit Knight, I need Swords Mastery Level 6 and Battlecry Level 1. Swords Mastery is already maxed-out, so that's not an issue, but Battlecry Level 1 requires me unleashing, well, a battle cry. Against my enemies.

I could use it here in town, but… yeah, I'm waiting until I reach Talorn tomorrow.

Making my way home, I inhale the scent of Gold's feast. He'll be staying at the Dark Temple while I'm in Talorn, though I'm sure he'll be back here every day to keep things clean and tidy. Even though he doesn't have to do this, it seems to be something he enjoys.

I find that interesting, considering how much he was forced into it before I freed him. I haven't pressed him for why he likes doing it when he hated it before, though. To be honest, I think it has to do with him doing it not being something he's doing unwillingly and doing it for someone he likes.

Not likes, just that he likes me. Like the way that I like him. As a friend.

"Hey, Gold," I greet him. "It smells delicious."

He beams at me as he continues putting the food on the table, then we dig in to our dinner. After, I help him clean up, though he mostly shoos me away, so I head to our sleeping area and get some sleep.

When I wake, Gold's making bacon and eggs, and has a piece of cooked bacon sticking out of his mouth. He blushes when he sees me, then sucks the entire thing into his mouth and chews rapidly. I'm guessing he wasn't expecting me to wake up just yet.

As we're finishing breakfast, Nik shows up. I finish equipping myself, then walk over to him, saluting to Gold, who dips his head to me.

"See you when I get back," I tell him.

His tail wags in response to that.

Nik pulls me against him, using Binding Darkness to hold me against him as his wings begin to flap. Taking off, Nik flies north, to Talorn. It takes around twenty minutes for us to arrive at the rate Nik's flying.

"The Dark Temple's off-limits," he tells me. "There's a pretty strong Bounty Beast hanging around there, and before you considering fighting it, Jesse and I couldn't kill the thing while working together. Its name is A'Lutar, and it's a Goblin Chieftain."

"So I can't stay in the Dark Temple?"

"Correct," he answers as he flies me to an area near the northern edge of the city. We aren't that far from the Dark Temple. "Nearly all Bounty Beasts have a set area they'll stick to, and where I'm dropping you off is out of his. There aren't any Fallen Adventurers within this zone, and the few Bounty Beasts I saw are within your range."

He flies around, showing me the boundary for the area he's leaving me in.

"Quick question," I say. "How, exactly, am I supposed to leave?"

"See that?" He points at a crumbled section of the City Wall. "Easy way out for you, another reason I scouted this area. As for other warnings for the area you're in, let's see. Do be careful going over there, there's a Goblin Giant Bounty Beast name A'Ivak who's pretty tough.

"And finally," he says. "Whatever you do, do not drink the water from the wells and pumps in the city. Melt snow if you need more than you brought."

"Got it," I say. "Where are you dropping me?"

"Over there," he gestures towards a cluster of homes. "One of those homes isn't too far from the exit and still has a solid second floor, so it'll give you shelter from the weather. Just need to clear out its current residents."

"Got it," I say, then he literally drops me into the house's yard.

I startle a few Goblins, which die with a few quick swings of my sword. These ones are definitely tougher than the ones in the valley, though that's because they're Dungeon-Class Monsters. At least, according to everyone and the notification I received when Nik flew down before he dropped me.

You have entered the Fallen City of Talorn All Monsters within its boundaries of Dungeon-Class Monsters, which are stronger than ordinary Monsters of their same type and Level. Be prepared. Be very, very prepared.

Thanks for the warning, Big S.

You're welcome. It took me nearly two centuries to get the wording right.

Get out of my head.

Okay!

I'm not even going to bother asking him why he sent me a message for the first one, then talked telepathically for the second.

Looking around, I spot a cluster of Goblins wielding rusty swords.

"RAAARRGH!" I yell at them, charging forward.

New Skill! Battlecry Active Let out a war cry to let your enemies know you're there. Temporarily stun them and weaken their defenses; can only be used once per encounter on the same enemies, and will not affect those who have heard it until the next encounter – should they survive.

After killing the temporarily-stunned Goblins, I return to the property and kill off the dozen living inside, before pulling up my Classes and advancing Warrior to Knight. It increases the Strength and Vitality gains per Level by one, bringing them up to four and six, respectively, while Endurance remains at one per Level.

Nodding, I look around, then start clearing out the bodies. Once they're tossed out into the street, I use the snow I can find to scrub some of the blood out, before starting my hunt. Not just for fighting, but for my book. I brought it, so I can make records of my Dungeon-Class Goblins living in a Fallen City encounters.

Around noon, I discover that the Goblins don't want me to eat lunch. Mostly because every time I try, they harass me, then take off. This isn't a 'we're attacking you for real' kind of harassment, though, it's a 'we're harassing you because you're eating, and we're going to run a way as soon as you attack'.

The only reason I don't manage to kill them all is because they're being led by a Bounty Beast.

A'Minra Goblin Knight Level 25 Health: 83,962 Mana: 8,199

He's an annoying fucker, and it seems to me like he's just wanting to harass me and keep me from eating.

For the ninth time, he shows up just as I got to take a bite of my sandwich, egging on the regular Goblins, who throw rocks at me.

"Hey!" I snap, turning my head and staring at them as they start to take off. "If you keep doing this, I'm going to actually chase after you, gut you, and turn you into stew!"

I turn back to my sandwich, and actually manage to take a bite. Satisfied with the success of my Intimidation, I finish eating, then return to watching and hunting Goblins for the rest of the day.

When night comes, I quickly learn that the Goblins have no intention of letting me sleep, in addition to not giving me peace at mealtimes. They don't outright attack me. No, what they do instead of get very, very noisy until I go to chase them down. Then, they're gone.

The rare glimpses I get of them tell me there's a second Bounty Beast leading the night ones. With A'Minra doing a little as well.

By morning, I'm tired and cranky, and half the buildings around mine have even more damage than they did before I showed up.

The next few days, I and the Goblins fall into a routine, with me doing a lot of watching, and a lot of killing, some of it out of rage. A'Minra and A'Kuta really don't want want me to have peace while eating or sleeping.

By the end of the fifth night, I'm wishing I could summon Meteors still and just bomb the Fallen City with them. Boom, boom, boom-fucking-boom. Those fuckers are fast as fuck, and they always keep themselves far enough away and time it just so in order to ensure they can escape.

I do get a lot of information for my records, though. The Goblins in the forest weren't anything like this, even when led by a Bounty Beast. I guess Dungeon-Class Monsters are more intelligent. More observations and samples will be needed to confirm, though.

I also use a large parchment to make a map of the Fallen City. While there are old maps of it, some of the landscape's changed, and not just because of my fits. I'm actually making two maps – one of just the Fallen City itself, and one of the Fallen City, as well as where Bounty Beasts I spot are.

Even the ones I kill, just as a reference.

Another interesting thing I discover are the holiday variants on the Monsters. I mean, I know them being here was kind of an obvious thing, since they don't disappear, remaining instead until they die. They aren't Bosses, after all.

This means that I acquire some extra candy and turkeys.

Of course, the Snow Slimes are around, too, so I start up a snowball fight in a part of this area of the Fallen City that has enough snow for it. We even include some Frost Goblins in the snowball fight.

They're reluctant to play with me, so after the game ends, I kill them. The Snow Slimes live, though, with a promise that if there's still snow the next time I'm here, I'll play with them.

The final, and most important thing, I notice here is that nearly every Monster is either Level 10 or a higher type than just the regular. In other words, nearly all Goblins are actually Soldiers, Guards, Knights, Archers, Shaman, or Chieftains, and there are a number of Elites around.

This shouldn't be surprising, to be honest. No one's been here to clear them out, and they get stronger over time naturally, even without conflict. I mean, there should still be weaker ones, right?

Unless areas designated as "Dungeons" by Big S have a limit to how many Monsters they can have in them? After all, they still need to eat, too, and there are limited resources, especially with them being unable to leave the Fallen City.

The sun begins to set on my sixth day, and I'm satisfied with what I've gained, between both my Levels and my book's recordings.