(Luca)

I open my eyes to find myself lying beside a tree. My brother's lying beside me as well. I remembered him, when I was talking to the big Crystal. The Crystal of Light of Air, he called himself. I didn't remember things, just him, and that he's my brother. And that my name is Luca and I am ten.

We both sit up and look at each other. We're wearing plain white tunics with plain brown pants and boots. I don't think they're very comfortable.

"Hey, Luca," my brother says. Braden. Right. That's his name. Braden. "Are you okay?"

I nod, and he helps me to my feet as he stands.

"Let's figure out what to do," he says. "There's got to be a place for newbies."

I nod, then follow him, holding onto the back of his tunic as he walks. This place is kind of cold. There's a lot of melting snow around. As we walk, I play around with thoughts to see what triggers the System's stuff. Crystal of Light of Air told me a few commands, so after playing around with things he didn't tell me, but that I feel are logical, I pull up my status.

Character Information Light of Air Name: Luca Primary Class: None Level: 0 Unavailable: Unavailable Title: None Unavailable: Unavailable Health: 10/10 Mana: 40/40 Strength: 1 Intellect: 6 Endurance: 1 Willpower: 10 Vitality: 1 Wisdom: 4 Agility: 1 Perception: 1

I think most of my stats are bad. The Crystal of Light of Air said that Strength affects how strong I am, Endurance affects how tough my body is, Vitality affects how much Health I have and how quickly I regenerate it, Agility affects my speed and dexterity, Intellect affects my magical power (but not how intelligent I am) and how quickly I can learn new Skills, Willpower affects how resilient to magic I am, Wisdom affects how much Mana I have and how fast I regenerate it, and Perception affects how much I can notice and how strong my senses are.

I don't know how I can work on most of those while walking through town with Braden, but I can probably work on Perception, right? Looking around, I start observing everything around me.

There aren't any people where we are now, but there are lots of old buildings. Most of them seem unoccupied, and judging by the grass levels, I'd say it's been awhile. Some of the buildings even have vines or ivy or something growing up their walls.

The road itself doesn't look all that used, either. Pieces of stone put together with grass and flowers growing between. We draw near a stone bridge over a creek that runs through town, and once we're past the sparkling clear water, I start seeing people.

Most of them are wearing fancy equipment. Or maybe it's normal equipment for here? Most of it's shiny, though a few people have damage to it. A ding here, a cut here. One person's wearing long, billowing robes as he walks swiftly through town. I think he's a magician of some sort.

Some people make comments about 'more kids' when they see us, and it sounds like they're not happy. Is it because we're kids? I'm sorry I'm a kid. I can't help it. Give me a few years, please. Then I'll be big and strong and not a scaredy-cat.

What's that mean? Oh, well. It's probably something from before I died.

Before I know it, we're at a building called the Trading Post and are entering it.

"What do you mean, there's two?" Someone angrily asks, and I hide behind Braden, holding myself tightly against him as I peek over his shoulder. "You're wrong!"

I think he's our age, maybe a little older. His back's turned to us, though, so I can't be sure. He's got medium-brown hair with golden highlights, and he's dressed in black and red clothes with black and red armor, even a sword strapped across his back.

He's scary, but the guy behind the counter is creepy. He's got black hair and green eyes, and he's dressed in tight leather.

"As I said, Zacky-" the creepy guy starts to say in a high-pitched, girly voice.

"Shut the fuck up, Pervert!" The younger guy says, then freezes, slowly turning and spotting us.

He looks really, really angry and really, really scary. Those blue eyes are so bright and knowing. It's like he's looking into me, and that's scary. Suddenly, his gaze softens.

"Luca, Braden," his voice is suddenly a lot nicer. This is scary. "Welcome to the Boundary."

How does he know our names?

"How do you know our names?" Braden asks, shifting to the side a little and blocking my view.

"It's a Skill called Appraisal," the scary guy answers. "It lets you see basic information for adventurers and monsters up to five Levels above your own. Let me guess, Pervert – their names are Braden and Luca?"

"Yes, Zacky!" Creeper says, and I think the scary guy wants to gut him.

He doesn't like being called that, does he?

"Dammit," Zack grunts, turning back to face the creeper. "I don't want to deal with both of them."

"Why would you have to deal with us?" Braden asks.

"Because you showed up on my property," the scary guy turns back around, glaring at my brother. "Which means you're part of my team, unless you want to buy a new property of your own. Can you afford that? No, you can't, because you're new here and it's expensive as fuck. So that means you're on my team until you can get your own fucking place."

"Well, we don't have to talk to each other, do we?" Braden asks. "I like you as much as you like me!"

"Glad to know the feeling's mutual!" The scary guy exclaims, then turns to the creepy guy. "I didn't plan for two. Get Braden a change of clothes and a basic… whatever for whatever it is he wants to be. I already have a staff for Luca."

He has a staff for me? Why does he have a staff for me? Did he know I was coming?

"You were ready for us?" Braden asks.

"No," Zack glares at him. "I was ready for Luca, because Big C told me he was coming. So I got him some clothes and a staff."

"Why'd you get him a staff?" Braden asks. "You aren't going to let him pick his own Class? You're going to force it on him? Who do you think you are?"

"The incarnation of hell itself," the scary guy growls low in his throat, and I shrink down a little behind my brother. "Luca wants to be a healer, doesn't he? He doesn't want to fight, he'd rather stay behind or heal others, I'm sure of it."

"As if you'd know!" Braden exclaims, and I tug on the back of his shirt.

The scary guy knew what I'd picked. I'd rather not fight, but I wanna support my brother. That means healing, right?

"What?" Braden looks at me, and I nod. "You… do?" I nod again, and he sighs. "Alright."

He turns back to the scary guy.

"So they told you that he was coming, but not me?"

"I guess you're just not as important as Luca," the scary guy grunts. "What do you want to be? I suppose I'll help you obtain that Class, too. I already know what's needed for Novice, the first step for Priest, and I know a bit about the other Classes."

Maybe he's just angry because there are two of us instead of the one that the Crystal of Light of Air apparently told him would be here? But why didn't he say there'd be two of us instead of one? Did he think that Braden would decline when he told the scary guy about me?

"What options are there?" Braden's glaring.

"What's your stat build like?" The scary guy asks.

"Focused on Intellect, Willpower, Vitality, and Wisdom," Braden answers. "Four on the first two, two on the others. One on the rest."

He's got a lot less starting stats than me.

"Fucking hell," the scary guy mutters. "He's got higher starting stats. Fuck you, Big C!"

His right ear twitches, and then he mutters a string of curses.

"Anyway," he looks at Braden. "Your stats are good for a magic build. You can be a healer, like your brother with his annoying amount of starting Mana, or-"

"Annoying amount?"

"He has 4 Wisdom!" The scary guy exclaims. "I hate starting at one for everything! Anyway, you can be a healer like Luca, or a magician. If you want to ignore what you're set for, you can also pick a physical Class, but since you're ten, I think magic would be better for you."

"You aren't that much older!" Braden exclaims.

"I'm thirteen, and I'm a lot more experienced than you," the scary guy states. "I've already been here awhile, and I've had a master swordsman train me! Plus, I had some skill in it from reality."

"And how do you know that I don't?" Braden crosses his arms over his chest.

"You're skinny as fuck," the scary guy rolls his eyes. "You've got almost no meat on that body of yours, and what is there isn't muscle."

Braden glares at him.

"What magic-type Classes are there?"

"Wanna throw the elements around?" The scary guy asks. "Novice Elementalist requires learning a single elemental spell of Tier 1. Or you can be a generalist when it comes to magic and learn Magic Bolt for your first spell."

"You can also-"

"No one asked you, Pervert!" The scary guy snaps, and the creepy guy giggles. "Ignore the pervert, he's just faking."

What does that mean?

"Why should I trust you?" Braden asks. "How do I know you're not going to be a bad leader?"

"You're still alive, aren't you?" The scary guy asks.

"You can trust Zack," a voice says from behind us, and I jump, moving off to the side and accidentally pulling my brother with me.

It's an old man in blue and white robes, a staff in one hand. He looks at us intently, then nods.

"Zack may be rough around the edges," he tells us. "But every diamond is until it's cut and polished."

"I'm a lot more polished than you!" The scary guy sticks his tongue out at the old man. Is he a priest? "And the fuck you doing here, Adrian? Please tell me that Big C didn't send you to help or something!"

"No," the old man chuckles. "I came to speak with Jesse about something."

"Oh, okay," the scary guy says. "Wanna spar? I really want to fight an Archpriest and see how hard it'd be, since they can heal and buff themselves constantly."

That's a fast change. The scary guy is really scary. And does he really think fighting a healer is a good idea? Wouldn't he just beat the crap out of him?

"If you want to fight someone like that," the old man tells him. "Track down Travis and spar with him. I'm sure he'd be happy to test his skills against you."

"We already did that," the scary guy grins. "It was hella fun! Anyway, Braden, pick. Are you going the magic route?"

"Fine," Braden grunts.

"Staff," the scary guy looks at the creepy guy as the old man walks to the counter. "And give me some food, too. I have two more bellies to feed instead of one more."

"Buy your own food!" The creepy guy exclaims as he pulls a staff out of nowhere. That is so cool! Wait, is that the Inventory? "Don't you have a lot of it, anyway?"

"Do I need to piss in your potions again?"

"You haven't done that yet," the creepy guy rolls his eyes, and the scary guy grins at him. "Now shoo, Zacky. Go teach your team what to do."

"Lesson number one," the scary guy walks towards us. "Never, ever attack a Certified Assessor while they're working. It costs you money and temporarily reduces your stats. Attack them after they get off work."

He thrusts Braden's staff into my brother, who grunts, grabbing it and glaring at the scary guy.

"And my name is Zack," the scary guy states, grabbing my chin and looking into my eyes as a strange feeling flows through me for a moment. Not terror, though that definitely went through me, too. Oh, good, I didn't wet myself. He'd probably be mad at me for that. "Never call me 'Zacky'. That's lesson number two."

He lets go of me and looks at my brother again.

"For lesson number three: always do what I say. If you do that, you will not die. Do not leave the City without me giving permission. Do not fight something without my permission. Do not attempt to prove you're strong without permission."

It seems like that was intentionally aimed at Braden. Why does he not like my brother?

(Zack)

I can't believe Braden's here! Nothing indicated he was coming! None of the visions, and none of the Crystals! I'm so pissed at that! Everything showed me it was just Luca! My visions and Luca returning to life after dying in reality.

The only explanation I can think of for that, since they died at the same time, is that Braden dies without reaching Ascension. For Luca's sake, I need to keep that from happening. It destroyed him in reality, and the only reason he was still functional was because he had me to lean on.

But he knew me in reality already. Here, I'm just 'the scary guy'. He knows Braden's his brother and still possesses the feelings he had for him, since they're brothers who came together. That created a bond between them already.

It will destroy him if Braden dies.

Fucking hell, why did Braden have to show up? I hate his guts. But what's done is done and he's here, so I need to protect him. And I'm strong enough to.

I'm Ascended. That horde that chased Bryce and me, if something like that showed up again, I'd own it. I'd rip its guts out of it and spread them across the battlefield, impale it on its own weapons, and completely decimate every last member of it.

I'd terrify its troops so completely they'd scatter or freeze up. They wouldn't manage to fight. They'd-

I'm scaring Luca again. Letting out a sigh, I pull my thoughts out of what happened to Bryce and back to what I'm going to do with Braden. He's not sure which path of magic he wants to take, and I told him he has to decide by the time we reach the house.

Hopefully, Braden listens to me. He's strong and willful, just like me, and that means there's a good chance he's going to try to prove himself to be 'strong' and 'able to take care of Luca'. That can be disastrous.

If only-never mind. No use wishing for what isn't. All I can do is pray to the Crystals and my father that Braden does not do something stupid and actually listens to me.

Thank fuck it's morning. I woke up, ate breakfast, collected my gear from Jackson, then went to Jesse for… I don't remember what for, actually. The twins showing up made me forget. I'll probably remember at some point.

That leaves most of the day to work on getting them their Classes. Thankfully, all they need to do is learn a single spell each. So if they're as intelligent as they proved themselves to be in reality, then this shouldn't be an issue.

Mental note: they're going to Level slower than me. Keep that in mind and don't get frustrated with how slow they are.

We reach my – our – house, and I show them to the rooms upstairs.

"What's with the bed stuff selection?" Braden asks.

"I stole it from the Dark Temple," I say. "It's better than the straw mattresses and crappy blankets that came with the place."

"You… stole from a place that calls itself the 'Dark Temple'?" He looks at me in horror, and I laugh. "What if-"

"The Dark Temple," I say. "Is where Dark Knights train, and most live there. I'm a Dark Knight, and Nik, my mentor, is one of their leaders. And I was slowly stealing them over several months, and I'm pretty sure he knows it, too, considering he's told me to stop that because having to replace stuff every time I show up is annoying."

I don't actually steal every time I show up, just the times I'm in a room. Their blankets and pillows are comfy.

"It's not very warm in here," Braden shivers. "We just have the blankets?"

"It'll warm up soon," I tell him. "Another month or so, probably. I've got some stuff to warm the room, but we should probably save them. The blankets should be enough for what's left of winter unless the temps drop again. As long as Nathan doesn't accidentally bring another Ice Lord into the area, though, we should be fine."

"Another what?" Braden asks.

"Ice Lord," I wave a hand dismissively. "Don't worry about it, I killed it. I mean, he helped me, but it's dead. Anyway, did you decide, Braden?"

He thinks for a few moments, then nods. Didn't I tell him to decide by the time we arrived? Why did he have to think again?

Calm down, Zack. You're scaring Luca, and Braden's only ten. He needs time to adjust, unlike you.

"Novice Elementalist," he tells me. "Being able to play with the elements sounds fun."

"Alright," I say. "When you check your Status, what does it say in the top-right box?"

"Dark of Air," he answers. "Why?"

"That's what your elemental alignment is," I explain. "That means that you'll learn air magics easier. A basic, Tier 1 Skill for your Class would be something like Wind Spike or Wind Blade, though the former would probably be easier to learn."

It's been ten days since my vision, and I've spent it preparing for Luca's arrival – and the arrival of the rest of my team, for whenever they come. I studied at the library and talked with a lot of adventurers to find out the requirements for a lot of Classes. I'm glad I did, since I'd have to go and research for Braden, otherwise.

"Once we head back downstairs," I say. "I'll teach you how to cast it, then you can get practicing. It costs 20 Mana, so it's within your abilities. You guys can pick which beds you want."

The twins look at the beds, and I see Luca's gaze go to the top bunk of the bed to the left when we enter the room.

"Except that one," I tilt his head down. "That's my bed."

I get top bunk. Since there's more team here and they're probably not going to like sleeping in front of the fire like I do and Gold did when he stayed here, I'm moving into the actual rooms.

Luca walks over to the bunk under mine and sits on it, looking at his brother.

"Alright," Braden says. "I'll take the other bottom bunk, Luca."

He then looks at me, and I know what he's going to ask.

"Yes, I've got food," I say, pulling the clothes I'd had made for Luca out of my Inventory. They're white and blue, like normal priest garb. "Here's the clothes I bought for Luca. You can borrow his clothes, but don't mess them up. I had them made specially for Luca. We'll have to get you some later. And here's Luca's staff."

I pull the staff out of my Inventory. It's a little taller than him and is made of a pale wood that's been stripped of the bark. A white leather grip was fixed onto it at just the right spot for him. While it looks pretty simple, it's heavily enchanted to ensure it's durable, and the wielder's magic is augmented a little bit while using it.

I negotiated hard to have it made without spending any money. I even went so far as to find the perfect tree for it. The craftsman accepted the rest of the tree as the cost. He wanted a platinum for this staff.

Kind of makes sense, though, considering how powerful the staff probably is, comparatively, for what it's made out of. It is wood, at the end of the day. And not from an Enchanted Tree.

Better than my equipment. Jackson decided – without consulting me – to use one of the Primordial Essences I left for others to buy in my Dark Armor, and it ended up as Primordial Dark Armor.

It was supposed to be normal armor, for crying out loud! Then again, most armor doesn't grow as the user does and absorb any spell thrown at it…

Whatever.

"Get changed," I tell the twins. "Then meet me downstairs. I'll get started on lunch, then we can work on you two learning magic."