Chapter Sixty.

(Zack)

"Gold," I whisper as I gently nudge him. "Gold, wake up."

Gold woofs quietly, probably from his dream, and I nudge him again, whispering for him to wake up once more. That time works, and he slowly opens his eyes, letting out a big yawn, before blushing and covering his mouth.

"Nik's getting ready to take me to Talorn," I tell him. "I wanted to say 'goodbye' before I left. We decided that I'll be gone for up to three weeks, with Nik stopping by in two to see if I'm staying the third or not."

He nods, giving me a hug.

"Are you staying here while I'm gone?" I ask, and he nods. "Alright. Don't forget your brother, okay?"

He nods, his tail wagging and ears perking up. I know he wants to play with his brother a lot. He'll probably head to Aurum as soon as I'm gone.

"When you go to hang out with him," I say. "There's something I want you to give him, okay?"

Gold nods, his curiosity piqued. I pull a Spook Treat out of my Inventory, and his eyes widen.

"Remember," I say. "Eating during the day will turn him invisible and make him sick for around a day or three. I can't remember which. Eaten at night, it'll taste delicious. Make sure to keep it in your Inventory, and only give it to him when Nathan's around, okay?"

Gold nods.

"I'm serious," I say as he sends it into his Inventory. "If someone else sees it and Nathan isn't around, it might get stolen."

He gives me a grim nod, then a hug, and I know he's apologizing for letting himself be used two nights ago.

"Gold," I pat his head. "You couldn't help it. He was an asshole. It's not your fault, okay?"

Gold releases me and nods, and I scratch his ears, causing his tail to swish from side to side.

"Let's go eat breakfast," I tell Gold, and we make our way to the dining room, where a few other Dark Knights are already eating.

After breakfast, Nik and I head outside, Gold trailing after, Theodore following him out. I'm betting that Dark Knight wants to make sure Gold is fine after I leave.

Nik stretches out his wings, then straps me to him with Binding Darkness.

Eventually, I'll have wings of my own and can fly without assistance. Eventually.

And my wings look awesome as fuck, too, if my visions are to be believed.

Nik takes off into the sky and I watch as the City passes by beneath us, then the fields, then the forest. The first half of the trip is quiet, though that's not hard, since it's not actually that long of a trip, even if it's pretty far.

But I have a burning desire to know something, and I'm me, so I speak up after we're halfway to Talorn.

"How come you can fly faster than you can run?" I ask Nik.

"What makes you think I can?"

"I'm psychic."

Actually, it comes from the statement of how long it would take you to reach Praevar being longer than how long it takes us to fly to Talorn. Even though we're flying straight rather than following a path… if you can fly to Talorn in less than half the time it takes you to run there, and you prefer flying or the insta-porting of the Dark Knights, it's pretty obvious.

Flying's faster.

"If you're psychic, you can use that power to figure out the answer."

"Or I can just ask you, then pester you until I get the answer."

"What makes you think you'd succeed?"

"I mean, my aim is to Ascend soon, so…"

"You can fly around three times as fast as you can run," he tells me. "Essentially, Speed affects your flight speed differently, giving it a bigger bonus per point than it does to the rest of your movements, though you're still able to act and react properly while flying."

"Got it," I say. "But it does require you to gain the momentum, right?"

"Correct," he answers. "So if you're crossing a short distance, it's probably better to just run."

"Okay," I say.

We finish the flight, and Nik drops me into the courtyard of the same house I stayed in last time.

I draw my sword and grin at the stunned goblins.

"Miss me, bitches?" I ask, before lunging forward and ending their lives. "Ah, fuck."

Forgot to use Battlecry. Thankfully, there are a few others coming out of the house to check out what that was about. I let out a Battlecry, then charge forward, killing the fuckers before they can really realize I'm even here.

It only takes me a few minutes to finish cleaning out the house, and I've pushed Battlecry to Level 4 in that time. Now I just need the last bit of Warrior Experience to become a General. Not much, as the thirty-two Goblins who decided to inhabit the property were able to give me 4% of Experience, putting me up to 91%.

So there's that nice bonus.

Stretching, I take off out of the property, using Dash as I do so, and the Goblin only knew what hit him because he saw me. A trio of them round a corner, and I kill them as well, before dodging the arrows from the rooftops.

"Hey, fuckers!" I holler as I Jump onto the roof, swiftly taking off their heads, then dropping, looking up to see an icicle shooting past me. "Oooh! Frost Goblin!"

Spinning, I deflect another icicle, then jump across the street, landing on the roof opposite while deflecting more icicles, charging the Frost Goblin and severing its head. Then, I stab it in the gut just because I can, before letting out a maniacal laugh.

Mostly to Intimidate the other goblins around, but also because it's funny.

"A'Minra!" I holler. "A'Kuta! Come out, come out, and I'll spare your souls eternal damnation!"

I explode into giggles after I sing that. They are so gonna die this time!

I jump off the roof, landing in the center of a quintet of Goblin Knights. This is too perfect. I spin in a circle, cutting through their armor with Zack's Blood. I could use Zack's Holiday, as I have been, except no one's really around to see me, so this makes things a lot easier.

Though… it's probably dampening how fast I gain Experience, since it's making things way easier.

That's alright by me, though, because this place is absolutely teeming with monsters for me to kill!

I forge a path of blood on my way to the plaza where I'd found the Snow Slimes before, and join them for a snowball fight, just as I promised them I would. They never manage to hit me, but it doesn't stop them from trying.

Nor does it stop them from dying, once I finish.

As my blade pierces the last one's core, I reach Level 10 Warrior and let out a whoop before advancing it to General. Not only do I reel in the bonuses from both of those Levels, but I also welcome the points from both Adventurer and every-five.

Pretty damn nice.

"NOW COME OUT SO WE CAN PLAY!" I holler, then explode into laughter, before sensing something terrifying.

Spinning around, I find myself facing a person. Not really a person, but still a person. Their skin has paled unnaturally, and several wounds are visible on their bodies, though no blood leaks out, just… a small trickle of darkness. Their black hair is matted against their skin, their black eyes lifeless.

The armor they wear signifies that they're a knight of some sort, probably a regular one. It's rusted, but I can tell that it's still quality. Their sword has a few chips and cracks in it as well, but I still doubt it's a weak one.

I can't read its Level. Fuck. I don't think I'll be able to run, will I?

Turning, I use Dash, only to hear it keeping pace with me. Fuckfuckfuck!

Jumping, I land on a roof, only to find it jumping as well. Fucking Fallen Adventurers!

"I wanted to play with Bounty Beasts!" I tell it. "Not Fallen Adventurers!"

The thing lunges at me, and I barely manage to sidestep it, striking out with my blade.

"Counterstrike," the voice is quick, but gravely, and I find my deflection being deflected as its own blade strikes at me, cutting into my arm.

"Gaaaarraaah!" I yell, grabbing my arm.

Fuck that hurts! And I've got a Bleed effect of 23 Health reduced every three seconds. Thank fucking goodness I switched into Zack's Blood. Zack's Holiday would've kept the Bleed effect at every second.

I duck backwards, letting the blade cross over me as the Fallen Adventurer attempts to kill me again. No one fucking told me they could still use Skills!

At least, I don't remember that!

As soon as the blade passes over me, I straighten up, only to find the blade swinging back towards me, direction suddenly changed. Lifting my arm, I let it hit my vambrace. Two can play at this game, fucker!

"Counterstrike!" I call out the name of the same Skill he used, immediately finding my sword lifting up and striking at the Fallen Adventurer, cutting through its chestplate and leaving a trail of the blackness.

Fuck that's an expensive Skill!

New Skill! Counterstrike Active 100% chance to perform a successful counterstrike against a superior foe (be it equipment, Level, or raw skill). Said counterstrike will be a single movement and can be dodged. Cost: 2,500 Mana

A very expensive Skill. It looks like it's Tier 3, too.

Fucking moron!

"Shroud of Darkness!"

Immediately, my Shroud of Darkness fills the air, turning it black, leaving only the edges of objects visible, as well as myself and my enemy. That should help even the odds.

I lunge forward, performing a Dark Strike. The Fallen Adventurer barely manages to avoid a lethal blow, but that's fine. Two injuries from Zack's Blood, it's got to be losing a ton of Health. Or whatever the fuck it is that Fallen Adventurers have, if it's not Health itself.

That black wispy stuff is kind of disturbing. It just dissipates into the air.

As my blade clears its body, I swing back with a Dash to my step, augmenting my speed just a little. This time, I cut clean through its stomach. I don't care how much Health you have, ain't nothing lives against getting cut in half.

Nothing.

Collapsing to the ground, I groan. I'm still losing Health, and need to learn Cure Bleed now. Sheathing my sword as I release Shroud of Darkness, I grip my wound, focusing on my healing magics and grateful for Adventurer.

Taking a few deep breaths, I begin working my power, attempting to learn Cure Bleed. It takes me nearly a full minute, and once I learn it, I let out a sigh of relief, my Health beginning to slowly climb back up.

The relief wasn't from being cured, it's from finding out that Cure Bleed can only cure a Bleed effect that's weaker than four times one's Health Regeneration. Levels decrease its Mana Cost, and that's it.

Since my Health Regeneration is over six per second, it was barely enough to cure the Bleed effect.

After taking a few moments to collect myself, I inspect my arm. The injury's still there, so I use Heal until it's gone, then sigh. That ruined my sleeve. I can probably mend it, but whatever.

My next order of business is checking out my gains from the fight. The damn thing brought me all the way up to Level 10. I suppose actually getting hurt in a tough fight counts for something when combined with what I was fighting.

I can see why it takes teams of Adventurers to kill those things. Without Zack's Blood or Zack's Holiday, I doubt I'd have survived.

A few more moments of rest, and I check to see what I need to reach Champion. I'm already at Level 10 Sword Mastery, so the Level 9 requirement there is met. Battlecry needs to be at Level 6, so I need two more Levels of it, and I need to have Warrior's Might.

Having already known about Warrior's Might being a requirement, I'm not blindsided by it and needing to figure out what it is. I can at least get this new Skill while I'm waiting for my stuff to regenerate and my body to calm.

Taking a few deep breaths, I stand, then feel for the power of the Skill, channeling it.

"Warrior's Might!" I exclaim as I push my own might outwards.

Immediately, a notice appears in my vision as a golden-brown ring appears around me, denoting the aura's space.

New Skill! Warrior's Might Active Share your might with your allies, so that they may fight stronger. This does not effect with other Warrior's Might, and only the first aura someone enters will be active on them. Strength Increase: 1% per Level of this Skill Duration: 1 minute per Level of this Skill Distance: 2 feet per Level of this Skill Cost: 1,000 Mana (reduces by 20 per Level of this Skill)

Damn that's an expensive Skill, and it even has a cost reduction. Will only be at 800 Mana to cast at Level 10, but it's still a potent Skill. I suppose it makes sense, considering it's required for a Tier 5 Class.

At least I only need it, not have it at a certain Level. I highly doubt it'll increase just by using it – it probably needs to actually affect allies.

Then again, I could probably go Monster Mode and buff up some goblins for the kicks. Buuuut I need to focus on getting stronger right now, so time to go kill more shit and up Battlecry.