(Zack)

"Do you two want to see something really cool?" I ask the twins, who stare at me uneasily.

They're still a bit shocked by the sudden movement the other day, when I picked them up and ran home before taking off to the Dark Temple. Things have been quiet in Maelnor since that incident, word's already returned about what happened. That, and most of the people out there.

Meanwhile, I've kept the twins training out in the fields. They're slowly getting better, though Braden's still pretty hard-headed and he keeps insisting on fighting goblins. The more he does that, the more I want to delay him in it.

If he goes against goblins eager to prove himself, he's going to wind up in a bad spot. Plus, I want him to be at 500 Mana before even trying to kill a weak goblin. A Level 1 Goblin. He might manage to do some decent damage to one before running out of Mana, but I want him ready to actually kill one.

At least we seem to be coming to an understanding, after our talk last night. Luca's not aware of it, I don't think, but Braden and I had a small discussion that I think is helping him to not hate me so much.

I still won't let him fight goblins, though, because I still don't think he's ready for it.

That said, tonight, I've got a present for the twins, but before then, there's other stuff I want to do, such as the something really cool I want to show them.

"It's nothing dangerous," I tell them. "You two just sit on some rocks and watch. Come on!"

I lead them out of town through the southern gate. The river that flows through Maelnor exits a little to the west of the gate, flowing southwest into the lake, Lake Naelmar. Or Naelmar Lake. Can't bother to remember which.

We walk a little to the southwest, near to where a path connects the road from Maelnor to Kaelmar and the road from Maelnor to Praevar. Around a hundred yards from that road, only a few feet from the river that cuts it in two, is a cupid. A baby-like 'angel' made of what looks like white marble, wearing nothing but rose petals around its waist. In one hand, he wields a bow made of thorns, an arrow with a crimson, heart-shaped tip already nocked.

"This," I introduce the twins to the creature, which is looking at us with interest. "Is the Love Lord."

Love Lord Level 25 Health: 43,972 Mana: 78,931

"Go sit on those rocks over there," I gesture to the rocks as I draw my sword.

It's my Primordial Dark Sword, I doubt I'd need something potent to kill this thing, based on my track record and current stats. I'm not going to bother using my 'terrifying' Skills, either. Stuff like Dark Vengeance would probably freak those two out. Plus, it requires me getting hurt a lot to really do anything, which I'd rather not do in front of my team.

The twins move to the rocks and sit down, and I watch the Love Lord. It has two modes, and the bonus comes from moving it into the Chocolate Love Lord mode, which shouldn't be too difficult.

Based on my research, the Love Lord, like most Holiday Bosses, has a limited amount of attacks.

The arrows are dangerous, and there are two types, and it's not possible to know which they are until they hit. The first type induces a Bleed that lasts for ten minutes, draining one percent of the Adventurer's current Health per minute during it. It can't be cured, so they have to wait that out before it ends. The second arrow effect that is possible is a five-minute period of a drunken state. The latter can be resisted with a high enough Willpower, but one's Endurance doesn't work, even if it does against alcohol.

In addition to the arrows, the Love Lord can summon roses and thorns while also shooting petals. The latter is typically used to obscure the vision of the Adventurers and affect their attacks. The former can be used to trip them up or bind them.

The Love Lord also possesses the power of flight, which it's using right now to float where it is, its wings flapping every few moments, though I doubt it actually needs to flap them.

Finally, it can summon Chocolate Slimes and Wine Slimes. I've seen a few of the latter, though they haven't dropped any wine for me. They come in red and white wines. The summoned slimes are at Level 5 when they manifest, and if there are twenty Level 5 Chocolate Slimes around, the Love Lord can draw them into it to turn into the Chocolate Love Lord.

The problem is, it only summons one every three minutes. That means it will take a minimum of an hour to switch it into the Chocolate Love Lord form, but could also take three hours or more. Thankfully, the summoned slimes stay within a certain range of the Love Lord, so as long as no one tries to steal from me, everything should go well.

Once it's in the Chocolate Love Lord form, its Health and Mana are restored to full, and a third arrow is added to its arsenal: one that inflicts a Chocolate Curse. It's a curse that creates a layer of extremely tough chocolate around the impact site, and is often used to target joints and anything touching the ground, to keep it from moving.

Anyone afflicted by it is stuck there until it wears off twenty minutes later. When the curse wears off, it turns to liquid chocolate, which is still pretty thick and apparently pretty goopy.

The advanced form also has greater Endurance as well, meaning it takes less damage from attacks. Thankfully, I'm strong enough I could probably take it out easily. According to Nik, most Dark Knights at Level 150 or higher can solo the Love Lord or take it out in a team of five or less.

Which might be why this one's got an alternate form for the reward, rather than the five-or-less reward. Most people probably wouldn't be patient enough to wait for it to summon twenty Chocolate Slimes, especially if it has to summon more because they or someone else killed them.

Should I let Braden get half of the reward for this? It would be a decent boost to his stats I'm sure, since he'd do no damage to it. Coming to a decision, I sheathe my sword and pull a bag out of my Inventory and fill it with marbles, then walk over to the rocks, where the twins are watching me in confusion.

"Braden," I hold out the bag. "Reach in there and pull out a single marble. If it's the red marble, I'll let you share in the kill."

"Share in the kill?" He asks in confusion.

"Holiday Bosses," I say. "Are a type of Special Monster, and as a result, they give bonus rewards for anyone who participated in the fight. Normally, I solo them, but I'm considering letting you share in the rewards and the Experience."

He gives me an annoyed look.

"You won't just let me?" He asks. "It'll help me get stronger!"

"If you pull out the red marble," I tell him. "Then I'll consider it a sign that you should get that bonus Experience. As it is, I don't think you're worthy of getting Experience you didn't actually work for."

"What will keep me from trying to get some?" He crosses his arms over his chest.

Luca seems annoyed, based on his emotions, but it seems directed at his brother. This is the norm, when Braden's being a brat.

"I will," I answer. "Your magic doesn't travel that far yet, so you'd need to get a lot closer. The moment I see you getting off the rock or preparing to cast a spell, I'll interfere and plant your ass right back on the rocks. If you think I'm not serious, ask the guy who lost a hand when he tried stealing my reward. Now, draw a marble and see if you get part of the reward."

Braden huffs, then reaches into the bag, feels around, then pulls out a marble. It's blue.

"You probably didn't even put a red marble in there!" He exclaims, throwing the marble at me. I catch it and send it back into my Inventory. "I bet you just like harassing me!"

Well, yeah, I do.

I look at Luca, who's bouncing impatiently, like he wants to draw a marble.

"Sorry, Luca," I say. "But you won't get to share."

He reaches out for the bag, and I realize he just wants to give it a shot, so I hold the bag out. Luca reaches into the bag, his face tensing up in concentration, then he pulls out a marble, grinning. It's a red one.

"There were ten red ones in there," I tell Braden, then look at Luca, holding my hand out. "The marble, please."

He hands it to me, and I send everything back into my Inventory as I look past the twins.

"If you want to entertain yourselves," I say. "I left the Snow Slimes alive, as usual, and today's a nice, chilly day with a decent amount of snow on the ground."

"You've never let me attack the Snow Slimes," Braden pouts. "I bet you're going to just-"

"Tell you that you're free to have a snowball fight with them?" I suggest. "The Snow Slimes aren't hostile unless you attack, and they're more than happy to let people participate in their snowball fights. They're a rare type of monster in that respect. If you two want to watch me fight, you can, if you don't, you can play with the Snow Slimes.

"That said," I say. "Attacking the Wine Slimes that the Love Lord will summon won't count as participating in the attack."

"But you said-"

"And now," I interrupt. "I'm saying that, once the Love Lord turns into the Chocolate Love Lord – and yes, you'll notice a difference since it'll become brown – you can attack the slimes it summons. They'll be Level 1, and it will summon two of each type every minute."

Switching into swarm tactics. According to Nik, it's one way some powerful Adventurers help newer ones train. The stronger ones keep the Chocolate Love Lord busy while the weaker ones fight against the weak slimes that spawn every minute.

"Now," I say. "You've seen me fight against the Chocolate Slimes before, but what you've seen is them just die. They do have attacks. Think of them like Stone Slimes. As for the Wine Slimes, you haven't seen those because they don't spawn in empty fields – think of them like Water Slimes."

"You want me to fight six at a time?" Braden asks.

"No, moron," I say. "Just fight one or two at a time. You're still Level 1, but battling multiple of these at a time should help boost you to Level 2. Depending on how much attitude you give, I'll delay killing the Chocolate Love Lord until you've reached Level 3 or Level 4, even. Special-type monsters give more Experience than regular, but they're tougher, too."

"Won't I run out of Mana fast?" He asks, and I look at Luca.

The little healer then pulls a Mana Potion out of his Inventory, and Braden gives him a confused look.

"I stocked him up earlier," I say. "While you were using the bathroom. He has twenty Mana Potions, and they'll restore 100 Mana each. I've also given him nine Health Potions."

It's not like I'll be using them anytime soon. Giving Luca the potions was a feat by itself. He was terrified almost shitless in the literal sense when I walked over to him while Braden was busy relieving himself, and it took me a solid minute to tell him that I was just giving him potions to give to Braden if his brother needed them today.

"Now," I say. "If you can behave, you'll get to acquire those Levels. If not, it'll be back to the regular, hard training when we finish here. Understand?"

"Yeah," Braden grumbles, and Luca sends the potion back into his Inventory. "What if I can't kill them fast enough to-"

"Have I let you be truly overwhelmed?" I ask. "Or have you always been able to handle what I let near you?"

"I've always been able to handle it," he admits.

"The same will happen here," I tell him. "I analyze. I calculate. I determine. Allowing you to fight special-type monsters, such as the Chocolate Slimes and Wine Slimes, will boost your Skills and Levels faster, but also result in you receiving less practical experience. That's why I haven't let you before."

"But aren't they stronger than other slimes, too?" He asks.

"They are," I confirm. "So you're going to be pushed a little harder, too. You can handle a Level 1 of these things, I'm sure. But you'd gain marginally more practical experience fighting them than you would a regular one. It's essentially a form of power leveling.

"What it results in," I continue. "Is you finding yourself stronger, but not having enough experience to tackle the challenges you think you can because of your strength. So I need you to swear, Braden, that you will not go off trying to kill something I haven't given approval for after this, if I let you. Swear it, Braden, or your ass is staying on those rocks."

"I swear it," he grumbles.

"Good," I say, then draw my sword. "Keep that promise in mind, Braden. You're a lot like me, only without the calculating aspect. If you go off on your own, there's a very, very good chance that you will die. Now, it's time to get this thing started."