(Luca)

"Oof! Boss! Whyyyy?"

Mr. Zack chuckles in my ear, then starts tickling me before I can figure out what happened that woke me up. I do my best to struggle against Mr. Zack, but his hands are too expert and he finds all my ticklish spots so I can't hide them.

Once we calm down, he kisses me on the forehead.

"Glad to see you smiling," he tells me with a small smile, himself. "I know it's going to be hard, Luca, but I'm here for you, okay? Anytime you want to talk, just let me know. Or Max. He might not look like he's paying attention, but he'll do his best. He just likes expressing his happiness, since he's never really been allowed to before, okay?"

I nod.

"And another thing," he says. "You don't have to smile for anyone, especially after what happened, okay? So don't feel like you have to. That said, I like it when you smile. You're even more adorable."

My ears burn at his compliment. He's saying that just to make me uncomfortable, isn't he?

"Now," he climbs out of bed and starts changing into his day clothes. "I'm going to go make breakfast, Luca. We're doing bacon and eggs."

"Woo!" Max exclaims, then scrambles to get dressed. "Max make breakfast, Boss!"

Max hurries out of the room and he pulls on his tunic.

"Or… Max can make breakfast," Mr. Zack chuckles, then looks at me. "Anyway, Luca, I like it when you smile, but don't feel forced to, okay? I know you're going through a rough time, I've been there, too."

Because of Bryce.

"Yeah," he nods, reminding me that he's totally psychic and able to read everyone's minds and probably crush us with his-

"No, I can't," he laughs. "You're letting your imagination get away from you again, but that's a good thing. It means you're still my Luca. Now that you're recovered, I was wondering if you'd go out to the fields with Max and me. He hasn't had practical training yet, just against me, so he's got no Experience."

Or Class.

"Well, yeah," Mr. Zack nods. "If you reach a combined Skill Level of 50 without any Classes, you obtain a rare Class that has a total of 10 Levels to it. The original Classes of the System. Max and I both have Ruffian. If you manage to reach a combined Skill Level of 100 without any Classes other than the original Class obtained at 50 Total Skill Levels, then you obtain an even greater Class called Adventurer. Max was less than 10 Total Skill Levels away from it when he gained Access due to Skills he had that carried over from being a beastborn slave. Gold has it, too. I would've offered it to you and Braden, only for normal people, that would take months or years, and I didn't want to delay you two."

That's okay, you just want what's best for us.

"M-mr. Zack?" I say, and he gives me a curious look. "I-I won't do it. I promise."

"I know," he smiles sadly, ruffling my hair. He thinks for a moment, then pulls a staff out of his Inventory, holding it out to me. "I had this made for your brother, but it didn't arrive in time for… you know."

I take the staff. It's simple and elegant, and a little taller than me. There's a pure-white crystal on the tip of it, and white runes up and down its pale shaft, a few traces of silver here and there.

"It's a powerful staff," he tells me. "It… was meant to be your brother's as part of a gift set with the robe. It just took longer to have made. I can trust you not to try to use it against too-tough foes."

I nod, then realize he wasn't asking me that, but stating it. He's right. I wouldn't, especially not after what happened when my brother did.

"Come on," he ruffles my hair as I lean the staff against the wall. "Let's go see how Max is doing with breakfast."

I nod, then follow him downstairs, where Max is making bacon and eggs. Crispy, but not burnt. When we eat, they're delicious, and Mr. Zack makes sure we each eat an orange, each. After breakfast, he runs us through some physical drills. Pushups, pullups, situps, and a jog around the neighborhood, in addition to some martial arts training.

For the martial arts training, he changes how he does it with me. For the first time, he actually hits me, but he tells me before that he's going to, that he's going to help me build up my Endurance and Vitality.

So after several hard hits and me hitting the ground hard a few times, I'm at 5 Health, and Mr. Zack stops there, as if afraid of putting me too close to 0 Health. I don't blame him. He's scared of losing another member of the team. He's holding back hard, too.

It was like he was scared to hit me, and he even apologized a few times.

When we finish, I give him a hug so he knows it's okay. I know he'd only hurt me to help me, and that he's hurting just seeing me hurt.

"Use Heal on yourself," he tells me. "It'll help you, uh, acquire Experience and Level the Skill. Using it on me apparently doesn't do much because of the difference in my maximum Health and your ability."

I nod, then cast Heal on myself.

+14 Health!

"Max, if you're done trying to do as many pushups as possible," Mr. Zack says. "We're heading out to the fields so you can kill some slimes."

"Yay!" Max exclaims, hopping up from where he was doing pushups and running over to us. "Max kill slime!"

"Yes," Mr. Zack smiles a little. "You'll get to kill some slimes. Come on, you two."

Mr. Zack leads Max and me out of town and through the gate that Braden and I took. I don't want to go through it, when we get near, I start flashing back to… to… that. To us leaving, and Braden dying, and Mr. Zack has me climb onto his back, and I hug him tightly, doing my best to not cry.

How is he so strong? He's lost his own brother, and now he's lost Braden, and he's still so strong.

We reach the fields, and Mr. Zack sets me on one of the rocks, then points at a slime.

Slime Level 1 Health: 9 Mana: 7

"Max, that's a slime," he says. "Kill it using Fireball."

"Fireball Fury!" Max exclaims, shooting three Fireballs at it.

His attack reduces it to 3 Health, and Max tilts his head in confusion. He's not that strong, but what was that Skill? It drained 60 Mana.

"Boss no kill Slimy!" Max whines to Mr. Zack.

What? Mr. Zack wasn't the one who was supposed to kill it, you were!

"Max," Mr. Zack chuckles. "You don't have enough Mana and Intellect to kill even the weakest Slimes yet with a Level 1 Fireball, and it'll take you around seven minutes to have enough Mana to kill it with Fireball. Why don't you, I don't know, avoid being attacked while waiting for that?"

"What?" Max tilts his head to the other side, right before the slime slams into him. "Bad slime!"

"No attacking it!" Mr. Zack exclaims as Max goes to swat the thing with his staff. "Wait until you can cast Fireball again!"

"Yes, Boss!" Max shoves the slime off of him, then runs around, avoiding being struck by the Slime.

When he reaches 20 Mana, he casts Fireball at the Slime again, though he calls out Fireball Fury. Why? Is that a weird form of Fireball that expends all the Mana it can on Fireballs? You only said it once, and you're not like me, I don't think. I can use Skills without speaking them, but you obviously have to, like most people.

The next time Max can use Fireball Fury, he does, killing the Slime. With it dead, Max collapses onto the ground.

"No fun, Boss!" Max gasps. "Bad slime! Fireball 2!"

"Congrats," Mr. Zack says. "Now, you should be able to do a little bit more damage before running out of Mana. Once you're back to full on Mana, attack another Slime."

I look around, and realize that all of the Slimes here are Level 1 again, and none of the special ones are around. I can see some Snow Slimes in the distance, but they're far enough away that Max probably won't go after them and get his butt kicked by snowball fight-loving slimes.

I wish Braden and I could've had some snowball fights with them, Mr. Zack always made it sound like that was fun to do, as long as we didn't actually attack them and just did the snowball fights.

"Luca," Mr. Zack says. "Heal Max, please. It'll help you boost your Skill and Experience, don't forget."

I nod, then use Heal on Max.

"What?" Max exclaims, sitting up with a start and looking around. "Health restored! Who that?"

"That was Luca," Mr. Zack snorts. "He just used Heal on you, Max."

"Ooooh!" Max giggles, then lies back down. "Luca-friend cool!"

Luca-friend? We're friends? But we only just met? I'm confused.

"Hey, Max?" Mr. Zack says. "When you go to attack the next slime, before you do, taunt it, okay?"

"Taunty-taunt?" Max asks.

What?

"Yes," Mr. Zack nods. "Taunt the slime, okay? It'll get you the Taunt Skill if you do it right, which is something you need for Dark Squire, once you're ready for that."

"Yes, Boss!"

When Max's Mana is back to full, he drops to all fours as he approaches another slime.

"You ugly!" He exclaims. "And puny! And no cool! Ugly Slimy! Stupid Slimy! You stupid! Stupid, stupid, stup-Skill!"

What?

"Now kill it!" Mr. Zack calls out.

Oh, Max got the Skill.

"Fireball Fury!" Max unleashes three Fireballs upon the slime, killing it. "Dead Slimy, dead Slimy, dead, dead, dead!"

He giggles, then charges another slime, somehow getting out of his boots as he does.

"DIIIIE!"

Max swipes his hands at the slime, and I realize that he's got claws now. That's scary, and Mr. Zack puts a hand on my shoulder.

"It's okay, Luca," he tells me. "Max is on our side, and he's just excited to get to kill monsters. Max, once you're done slicing that one up, put your claws away, clean off your hands, and put your boots back on! Then, keep killing slimes until you gain two more Skill Levels, okay?"

"Yes, Boss!" Max finishes off the slime, then pulls out a bag of water and cleans his hands of the slime, before pulling his boots back on. "Fun Boss!"

Yes, Mr. Zack is fun, I guess?

"No," Mr. Zack whispers to me. "He was saying he's having fun. He's… not quite able to use proper sentences yet. Beastborn communicate partly in words, partly in thoughts, impressions, images, and emotions. When he was taunting the slime, he was also projecting images of him showing off his muscles and his ability to play cards. Max! After your next kill, we're eating lunch!"

"Lunch!" Max exclaims, then starts running around.

He has a lot of energy.

After Max's next kill, we eat lunch, then he returns to… I guess he's exercising in his own way? Between his kills, he does that, and after a few hours, he runs up to Mr. Zack.

"Adventurer!"

"Congrats," Mr. Zack tells him, ruffling his hair. Ooh! Do me! Mr. Zack ruffles my hair. Yay! "Now take on Novice Elementalist, Max."

"Yes, Boss!"

Novice Elementalist? Like… Braden?

"Yes," Mr. Zack gives my shoulder a gentle squeeze. "He's a fire elementalist, though, not an air elementalist. It's okay, Luca."

I know. Thanks, Mr. Zack.

"Alright, Max!" Mr. Zack flicks Max on the forehead. "Time to kill more shit. We're staying out here until dinner."

"Yes, Boss!"

As Max continues training, I realize that Mr. Zack starts having him attack stronger Slimes. Level 2's. Max always uses Fireball Fury, rather than just Fireball. Is that why?

"He's just excited," Mr. Zack tells me. "Give it a few days, and he'll start being a little more reasonable and just using what's needed to kill the monster… most of the time."

(Zack)

That was… interesting. Max gets way too excited right now, but I suppose it's normal. He is a kid, after all, and even though he went through trauma, that's 'in the past' for him, and 'just how things were'. For him, things 'got better'. For Luca and me… we've been through trauma, and it wasn't 'normal' for us.

Plus, I'm sure Luca will be like him sometimes, even if quieter. I know I get excited and hyper at times, too. I am a kid, after all.

Now, they're in the bath, with Luca 'accidentally' touching Max's tail and Max trying to ask Luca to wash it, but failing. Just like yesterday. Max is talking excitedly, so it's easier to hear.

As they do that, I cook, making a small feast for the three of us. I can smell Aurum cooking across the street, so I guess Nathan's home tonight.

The boys finish their bath as I'm finishing dinner, as usual, and we eat in mostly-silence. Max is chattering away, but through beastborn-speak, so Luca doesn't catch most of it. I barely understand half of it, considering he's at his full, rapid-fire pace.

I guess it's a good thing he's talking to Aurum across the street and not me.

After dinner, I make sure the boys are in bed, promising Luca I'll be there in a bit, then head outside and jump up onto the roof. A moment later, I hear a thump from my room.

"Hey!" Max exclaims.

Guess he tried snuggling Luca to make him feel better. Probably got shoved off the bed for not wearing pants. Staring up at the sky, I watch the stars twinkling. Until the knight of my team arrives, there's not much we'll be doing, other than training. How long after he arrives will our ranger?

Probably not long, based on how soon after Luca arrived Max did, and how much sooner after that the knight will, if the pattern holds.

Once the full team is here, and I've trained them a bit, we're going to make several trips to Talorn and the mines. My team will defy the norm when it comes to Levels. They aren't going to work solely as a team, but claim individual kills and get pushed hard to acquire that Experience. They won't claim a small portion of Experience from harder monsters that someone stronger, such as me, killed just for the purpose of acquiring Experience from something tough.

Like the stars in the night sky, there are many types of people, in all shapes and sizes and experiences. I doubt the Crystals would send me Adventurers who take too long to Level. They're starting far behind me, and would fall even further behind if-

Stars?

What the fuck?

The Boundaries are realms unto themselves! Why do we have stars?