(Luca)

Warp time!

Okay, not quite yet, everyone else is still checking their gear to make sure they're ready. Mr. Zack told us that there is a good chance we will be fighting soon after arriving in Talorn, so he wants to make sure we are all ready.

Right now, we're standing on the flame sigil in front of the Dark Temple in Maelnor, and there's a crowd of beastborn at the bottom of the steps. They've multiplied. There are, like, fifty of them now, and they're all waving to Mr. Zack.

They really, really like him, and he's just being cool about it. That, or thinking about Kylie. I bet he's doing the latter and being Mr. Oblivious instead of Mr. Zack.

I yelp when something whacks the back of my head.

"I'm not being oblivious," Mr. Zack tells me, and I smile at him. "Stop being a goof, Luca. But don't change."

That makes no sense. Mr. Zack smiles back.

"Everyone ready?" He asks the others, and they all nod. "Then let's be off. Gold! Can you tell the crowd that they don't need to see me off every time I leave?"

I look around for Gold, who suddenly appears in front of the group, giving Mr. Zack two thumbs up. And Mr. Zack called me the goof.

"Alright!" Mr. Zack says. "Let's go!"

A moment later, we're standing in the ruins of Talorn, and when I look down the steps up to us, I find a section of the ground charred. A really, really big section of the ground. I find myself clutch Mr. Zack's jacket and pulling myself against him. This is where A'Lutar killed my brother, and that scorch mark… that was him, wasn't it?

"What was that?" Gavin points at the scorch marks.

"The death of the beast that killed Luca's brother," Mr. Zack answers. "Its corpse was burned with powerful fires. The damage will be repaired when the City Barrier is restored."

"How will that happen?" Gavin asks. "Peter said that no one knows how to do that."

"I have a theory," Mr. Zack scratches the back of his head. "But I can wait to test it until after you guys get some training in here. It'll cause the monsters to weaken, and they won't be able to spawn here anymore. Since recovering the Fallen Cities isn't too important, it won't matter much, anyway. So I'm not going to put it to the test just yet."

"I think," Gavin says. "That everyone, including the Crystals, would differ in opinions with you on that."

"Actually," Mr. Zack says. "Preparing for the upcoming battle for Talorn and for Naelmar Valley is more important. So no, it's not all that important."

There's some other reason, isn't there?

"There," Mr. Zack points at a Level 1 goblin that just wandered into the plaza the temple rests at the edge of. "Is a Level 1 Dungeon-type goblin. Max, Gavin, you two attack it. Max, remember to only casts Fireballs one at a time. No Fireball Fury. Keep calm. These are stronger than the slimes you've been fighting until now."

"Yes, Boss!" Max salutes.

"And work with Gavin."

"Yes, Boss!"

Gavin draws his sword, then assesses the situation while Max looks between the goblin and Gavin, confusion clear on his face.

"How be work with Gavin-friend?" Max looks at Mr. Zack.

"Gavin will attack with his sword," Mr. Zack says. "As you attack the goblin. Use more than just Fireballs if necessary, Max, and only use your spells, okay?"

"Yes, Boss!" Max exclaims, his tail wagging as he looks at Gavin. "Gavin-friend, Max distract!"

Max leaps off the steps, doing a flip in the air.

"Waterball!"

I don't think that's what Mr. Zack meant, Max.

The ball of water splashes the goblin, which starts chattering at Max angrily. Max chatters something unintelligible back, shooting a Fireball at the creature. The fireball impacts, sending the thing staggering with some burnt flesh on its face and the arm it raised to block the attack.

As the goblin is distracted by Max, Gavin charges down the steps, jumping when he draws near and bringing his sword down on the goblin, which barely manages to raise an arm in time to stop the attack.

Gavin's sword still cuts into the arm a little bit, and I realize that Mr. Zack is saying something to Braden, who nods, then raises his bow, but doesn't pull the string. I want to see those cool arrows of his!

The goblin punches at Gavin, who steps back to avoid it, Max attacking with a Stone Spike that pierces into the goblin's leg a little. The goblin says something angrily and stops its foot, and the Stone Spike falls out.

"Piercing Shot," I hear Braden say softly, then I hear the twang of his bowstring releasing.

A green arrow flies through the air really fast, but the goblin somehow manages to avoid letting it pierce its left eye, the arrow grazing its head, causing it to bleed a little. Max hits the goblin with a trio of fireballs as he runs to the side, and Gavin slashes at the goblin from the side, cutting into it. The goblin twists and punches at Gavin, and I realize it's trying to claw at his arms.

I should probably be closer, shouldn't I? Just in case they need healing?

Gavin takes damage, and I start making my way down the steps. Mr. Zack doesn't stop me, so I assume it's okay and get into range so that I can use Heal as soon as necessary.

As Gavin attacks with his sword again, the goblin pulls out a knife from… I'm not sure where, actually, and ducks under the sword, coming up close and stabbing Gavin in a gap in his armor on his right leg, taking out a fair bit of his Health.

"Bad gobby!" Max exclaims. "Fireball Fury!"

The goblin lurches out of the way, and Gavin rolls out of the way of the attack, groaning as he agitates the wound. Heal! Heal! Heal!

+30 Health to your Target! +30 Health to your Target! +30 Health to your Target!

Gavin groans a bit as he yanks the knife out, and I heal him again as the goblin does its best to avoid Max's Fireball Fury while trying to get them to hit Gavin instead. I want to get mad at Max for not being careful, only to realize that his attacks are missing Gavin, even when the warrior stops moving because of the knife wound. I use Heal again, and the wound closes up.

"Thanks!" He tells me. "Max! Stop wasting your Mana!"

"Bad gobby!" Max stops casting Fireball Fury, but that's only natural, since he ran out of Mana.

Bad Max!

As Gavin prepares to charge the goblin again, it lunges for its knife, and an arrow of green magic strikes its hand, another quickly striking the knife and sending it spinning. Max races after the knife and kicks it further away, before kicking the goblin in the stomach, his hands on the ground.

Gavin attacks the goblin, his sword cutting into its side before it can evade it again, and he draws a little more blood.

(Gavin)

Once the goblin is dead, I lean forward, resting my hands on my knees as I catch my breath, unable to even clean my sword and sheathe it because of the exhaustion and pain I'm in.

+30 Health! +30 Health!

"Thanks," I look over at Luca, who just nods and begins using Heal on Max.

Once we recover, we gather at the base of the steps, where Zack and Braden were waiting for us. Even Braden couldn't get a critical hit on the goblin here. Is this really the difference between a slime, a goblin, and a Dungeon-type goblin? Zack told us it was only Level 1, too, and he said I could probably handle Level 1 goblins on my own.

"Are we," I say to him. "Going to be facing stuff that hard the entire time we're here?"

"No," he answers. "There are slimes and rats as well, and most of the monsters here are tougher than that. Fortunately for all of you, there isn't a single Fallen Adventurer, Elite Monster, or Bounty Beast left in Talorn at the moment. They were cleared out over the last week, while we were training. The ones remaining, at any rate. The Fallen Hunters, a team of powerful Dark Knights and Paladins who specifically hunt Fallen Adventurers, came through before you guys showed up to kill all of the Fallen Adventurers here except the strongest. That was attacked by someone else yesterday, who inflicted a curse upon it that killed it over time. It died yesterday afternoon."

"Okay," I say. "That fight was tough. Do you seriously expect us to be able to manage to train here if it's probably one of the weaker things we'll encounter? You can't expect us to believe we'll be able to avoid goblins."

"You won't," Zack confirms. "But that's the point. To grow stronger more rapidly than before, you will need more powerful foes. I will ensure that you only face things that you actually have a chance against, even if it pushes you."

"But-"

"How much Experience did you acquire for Squire?" He asks.

"Seventy-five percent," I answer. "But-"

"Exactly," he says. "From a single Level 1 Goblin, you acquired three-quarters of the Experience needed to reach Level 9 from Level 8. How many of the money slimes would that have taken you, working alone?"

"Probably fifty to one hundred," I admit.

"Exactly," he says. "Exactly, exactly, exactly."

"But if that's what is weak," I say. "Then how do you expect us to manage?"

"Because," he says. "I will ensure you aren't faced with anything that the four of you, combined, cannot handle. I am strong enough for that."

"How do we know that?" I ask. "You've said you're stronger than us, and we know that, but we don't know how much stronger you really are, even if others respect your strength, Zack. How can we trust that you can actually protect us in this unknown area with monsters where among the weakest of them, without any form of Class or additional Level, can push us badly enough we're exhausted just killing one of them? I want to trust you, Zack, and I know everyone says you assess the situation against your and our abilities, but-"

"But you don't have proof of that," Zack says. "You have never seen it before. You have faith in the Crystals, yes?"

"I have been in the presence of one of them," I tell him. "And could feel his otherworldly power, his sacredness. I can sense without a doubt that they are what they are. That is something I know for sure in my soul."

Zack thinks for a few moments, then nods.

"Come with me," he says. "There's a nest of Spook Goblins living near here."

"Spook Goblins?" I ask.

"Yes," he begins walking. "They're a Special-Type monster that appears later in the year, preceding the arrival of the Spook Master, a powerful monster that is actually rather easy to kill if you get lucky and know the trick."

If you get lucky makes it obvious it's not that easy to kill, Zack.

He leads us a few blocks away, and as he does, I realize that, despite the word that this Fallen City is teeming with monsters, we aren't really seeing any.

Then we reach another plaza, where around twenty goblins wearing black and orange masks are. Several of them have staffs, and several have swords or knives. Zack produces a thick book from his Inventory.

"Luca," Zack hands it to the little healer, who struggles with its weight, so I take it. "Show them the page on these things."

Zack walks forward, stretching. Luca opens the book up, and I realize that it's a journal on the different types of goblins, their strengths, weaknesses, and habits. The Spook Goblins are watching Zack, who's stopped walking, but is still stretching, as if he's not facing twenty Dungeon-type goblins all at once.

Luca reaches the page on Spook Goblins (Dungeon), and I nearly drop the book at the listed estimated stats of them. I don't think I would be able to put enough power into a strike to hurt even the magic-based ones at Level 1. Maybe with another Level or two, but definitely not right now.

Zack cracks his neck simply by snapping it to either side without even using his hands, then he moves his right foot back, only his toes touching the ground, his knees bent and body tilted forward. A moment later, and he's lunging forward.

One of the casters creates a Barrier as two others throw Fireballs at him, and Zack just ignores the Fireballs, allowing them to strike his armor, which absorbs them. He punches the Barrier, breaking it, and I stare at that in shock. According to this manual, a Level 1 Spook Goblin caster's Barrier would have a resistance of around one-fifty or so.

Zack reaches the first goblin, and instead of using his sword or knife, he just punches it, sending it flying across the plaza with the force of the attack. He kicks out with his right foot, catching another Spook Goblin, and one of the casters does something with its staff, sending tendrils of darkness at Zack.

He ignores them, even as they wrap around his boots. The manual reveals that to be Binding Darkness, also a Skill used by Dark Knights and Blood Priests, and it's meant to bind the target in place. Based on the tendrils reaching up to his thighs before being absorbed by his armor, that caster was at least Level 3.

Two of the sword-wielding Spook Goblins charge Zack from behind, but he just spins, punching both in their guts, their necks, their heads, before stepping between them and snapping their necks.

The rest of the fight goes similarly easily, and when he finishes, all twenty or so goblins dead, he just casually starts looting them. We approach him as Braden and I look at the information in the book again. He easily killed things that are decently stronger than us by far.

"The first time I fought a Spook Goblin," Zack tells us as he loots the corpses. "I was Level 5, it was a regular one, all it had was a club, and it was Level 1. I am sure you could handle one of those, Gavin. Did you check out the pages on these?"

"Y-yes," I hand him the tome back, and he returns it to his Inventory. "Just how strong are you? What's your Strength? You punched through that Barrier like it was nothing, so you have at least 150 Strength, maybe even 200."

"It's a little bit higher than that," he tells me. "Even a Level 10 Goblin Chieftain or Level 10 Special-Type goblin wouldn't be a problem for me here. It would take a decent-sized group of those to make me struggle, and they won't gather like that. It's not in their nature."

"Oh," I say.

"So," he says. "Do you see now why I am confident I can prevent you guys from facing anything you truly cannot beat?"

"Yes," I answer. "I apologize for doubting you."

"It's understandable," he smiles, then whoops. "Five marbles!"

What is his obsession with marbles?

He adds them to his Inventory, then moves on to the next goblin.

"By the way," he says. "If you missed it in the tome, goblin masks are actually a part of them, so if you try to remove them, it comes off bloody. You're basically cutting off a part of their face."

Gross.

"But," he gives me an amused look. "You can sell them for a few copper."

Not worth it.

Zack finishes looting the goblins, then stands and looks at us.

"So," he says. "Do you trust me on this now?"

"Yes," I say, and Braden nods.

"Max always trust Boss!" Max happily informs him, though the question probably wasn't aimed at him or Luca, who also trusts Zack unconditionally.

"Okay," Zack says. "Then let's get moving to avoid the goblins incoming. I do want to leave stronger ones around for you guys once you've taken care of weaker beasties here and gained a few more Levels."

He turns and walks away, and we follow as I think over what he would need to reach that much Strength.

To reach that, he definitely has at least two Classes, maybe even three. He favors the sword from what I can see and is definitely warrior-based, so he probably has, in addition to Dark Knight, Knight and one other warrior Class. I do remember mention of a spear being forged for him, so maybe Spearman, or whatever it is? That would put him at no less than Level 50, but he's probably closer to Level 70 or Level 80 if he has 'a bit' more than 200 Strength.

Just how much training has he done in the six months or so since he arrived to reach such a high Level?