(Braden)

As Zack leads us to where we will be setting up camp for our stay here, I keep my eyes alert for any threats. Zack is being extremely subtle about deterring most things from coming our way, but following up from the rear while paying attention, I notice the glares he's giving out.

He's using Intimidate on all the monsters drawing near us so we can reach our temporary place of stay and set up early. It's subtle, and I think that only Luca might have caught on so far out of the other three. Gavin is a lot more oblivious than he thinks, and Max is Max.

"Boss!" Max whines a few more minutes into the walk. "Stop scare all rats away! Me want play and eat!"

Oh, so Max noticed.

"How is Zack scaring everything away?" Gavin asks in confusion.

Yeah. Oblivious.

"Boss be glare!" Max nods. "Give monsters look that say 'go away!' Then, monsters be go away, because Boss be use Intimidate. Using. Stronger Willpower than beasties, so beasties get scared and go away 'cause they be scared by Boss Intimidate. Boss's. That be right, right?"

"Yes," Zack says. "It's 'Boss's'. And if you call me 'Zack' like I tell you to, it would be 'Zack's'."

"Boss name be 'Zack'," Max tells Zack pointedly. "But Boss be Boss, so Max be call Boss 'Boss'. Calling. Max hungry, Boss! Stop scare all rats away! Me want chase and catch and eat!"

"We're almost there," Zack gives Max an amused look. "You can eat something proper when we arrive."

Max pouts, then pulls a dead rat out of his Inventory and starts munching on it. He keeps a few of them in there just in case, but prefers them fresh. I suppose he really was hungry.

Just as Max finsihes the rat, tossing the last of the bones to the side and licking his hands clean, Zack walks into the yard of a house that looks like it might still have a roof. There are a few goblins in the yard, and several more inside the building.

"I've already set up the purification runes on all of the water sources," he informs us, reaching behind him and gripping the hilt of the sword. "So we won't have to worry about that. That said… IF YOU VALUE YOUR LIVES, LITTLE SHITS, YOU WILL LEAVE THIS PROPERTY AT ONCE!"

He yelled that in a frightening, deep voice, and just hearing it has frozen me still. All of the goblins on the property are frozen as well, then they start scrambling out of the property. Luca lets out a sigh of relief, and I manage to free myself from that paralysis.

+1 Willpower!

Oh, cool.

"Last time Mr. Zack used that near me," Luca whispers to us. "It wasn't that gentle, and he wasn't trying to scare us."

"I'm sorry about that," Zack gives Luca an apologetic look. "I didn't realize that it would affect you that badly from behind, or I wouldn't have put as much power into that."

"I forgave you already," Luca tells him. "Just please don't do that again. You made me pee myself."

"I did?" Zack sniffs while looking down, then shakes his head and meets Luca's gaze again. "You meant back then. Again, Luca, I'm sorry."

"And again," Luca responds. "I forgave you for that."

Zack can do it frighteningly enough to make people pee themselves? Just what was that voice?

"Alright!" Zack claps his hands. "Anything you don't want goblins stealing while we're not here, keep in your Inventories or give to me to put into mine. They'll leave us alone at night. If they don't, I'll handle them unless it's something you can handle. Max, Gavin, you two make lunch. Braden, Luca, you two make sure the goblins took their crap with them. If they didn't, just toss it out or keep it in your Inventory."

"What are you going to do?" Gavin asks as Zack sits at the table in the yard.

Some of these houses still have the tables, which I find impressive. Did Zack bring this one here, or was it already at this house when he found it?

"I'm going to meditate, talk with the Crystals, and look at some stuff," he answers, his eyes turning violet. "Don't bother me."

"Come on," I tell Luca, who nods and follows me into the house.

We check the rooms, and find a few things that very obviously belonged to the goblins, such as wooden clubs, rusty weapons, and rusty shields. A few loincloths, too. We take everything a few houses down and drop them off there, aware that Zack is keeping an eye on us.

"Luca," I say as we make the last trip with the goblins' stuff, and he gives me a curious look. "Did Zack really make you pee with that voice?"

"Yes," he blushes. "He did it to prove a point to my brother and me."

The original Braden. How does Luca feel about having another Braden here, after his brother of the same name died?

"A point?" I ask.

"My brother was probably worse than Gavin when it came to Mr. Zack," Luca nods. "Mr. Zack just wanted to help him grow and be tough, and my brother kept butting heads with him. It only made Mr. Zack like him less."

He grips his staff tighter and grabs the front of his robe with his free hand, the knuckles on both turning white as he looks down, tears welling up in his eyes.

"My brother," he continues. "He wanted to know why no one would bother us in those fields. Did you notice that?"

"I did," I nod.

No one ever comes out there. Well, some of the Dark Knights do from time to time, probably to watch us since that's all they do, but other than that, we're left alone.

"It's because they're where a Dark Knight trains," Luca tells me. "My brother wouldn't take that as an answer, so Mr. Zack, he-he roared using that voice. We were behind him, and the power of it made us both pee ourselves while freezing up. Mr. Normar did something to free us from the paralysis, it was so strong. We were still shaken up by it that night. What he did here… that was nothing. I think-I think Mr. Zack might be able to actually kill with that voice."

Death by fear. Or as they say, 'scared to death'.

As they say? Where did that come from? Probably from before I died, I suppose.

Is that something that can happen? Maybe, I guess.

I should ask Luca the question I really want to know. Not doing it is making it hard for me to think clearly.

"Luca," I say. "Are you… okay with me?"

"Mr. Zack trusts you," he nods, his grip loosening.

"N-no," I say. "I mean… with me. I have the same name as your brother, and so I was wondering…"

I trail off, and Luca looks away from me, but I can see his grip tightening again, his knuckles turning white once more.

"Every time I hear your name," his voice is barely above a whisper. "Every time someone calls it, I think for a moment 'he's here?' Then I get reminded that he's not. It's awful. Mr. Zack… he almost kicked you out because of that. He doesn't want me being upset. I talked him out of it."

Zack would have kicked me out to keep Luca happy? I guess that makes sense, after what Luca revealed to us about Zack feeling guilty. Why does he feel like the weight of the Boundary is on his shoulders, though?

I sense something nearby and quickly have my bow in my hands, ready to fire an arrow. It seems I reacted just in time, as I'm able to jump in front of Luca and smack the spike out of the way with my bow.

That did not look like stone, and the slime is a Level 3 Chocolate Slime. Another Specialty Slime, it looks like. I fire several Piercing Shot arrows at it as it launches more of those… chocolate spikes at me.

While I manage to avoid four of its shots, another succeeds in piercing my leg.

-43 Health! +30 Health!

"Thanks, Luca," I fire off two more arrows, one of which misses, the other of which strikes the core of the slime.

I'm not dealing any damage to this thing. My Magic Arrow only takes out 7 Health at the moment, before factoring in their Willpower, which negates it completely. Why has Zack not come to the rescue yet?

(Max)

Me want to go help Braden-friend and Luca-friend, but Boss tell Gavin-friend and Max stay here and not. So we be stay here for now, even though Max not think Braden-friend can kill it. Luca-friend definitely not able to kill Chocy Slimy.

Max stomach rumble at thought of chocolate. Me be hungry.

Give Boss pleading look.

"You're already eating," Boss say. "Keep going. They'll be fine."

Max not that sure. Braden no have enough magic hurt something like Chocy Slimy. It be too strong. Max be able to, me think. They keep going, but not be able hurt it. Why Boss be so mean to them?

Luca-friend nearly run out of Mana. Max want go help them. Boooooss!

"Gavin," Boss say. "Go help them."

Gavin-friend jump to feet, then charge out of the yard and down the street to their aid.

"Max," Boss look at me. Looks at me. He be looking at me. "That was to help Luca power up a little. As you noticed, he took a little bit of damage, as did Braden. Both of them will gain some Vitality, and Luca will no doubt acquire some more Endurance and Intellect from that."

Max give Boss stern look. Gavin-friend not be strong enough help, either.

"I know," Boss takes bite of steak. "You aren't, either, unless Luca buffs you, and you'd only take out 1 Health or so per hit. It's a Level 3 Chocolate Slime, after all."

Boss make Max stay behind, so me eat instead. Makes. Boss makes Max stay behind. But me really want go help. Me be able to, Boss!

When Gavin-friend start be exhausted, too, Boss tell Max that me be able to go and help the others, so me scamper off the bench and out of the yard to go help.

(Zack)

I watch as the team tries to kill the Chocolate Slime, even though they know they cannot. They could all just come back here, but they're trying anyway. At least they're surviving, I want this to be a lesson to them.

The slime was watching Braden and Luca for almost five minutes before Braden turned to face it. Observe surroundings is the first lesson, and while Braden is good, when he focuses on something, he seems to lower his awareness of his surroundings. The other lesson for this is to get the fuck away from it if you can't kill it and can escape.

Seriously. I'm not training morons here, but they aren't using their brains for this. Sure, the thing can fire at them, but have they fought a slime so far that could chase them as fast as they can run?

No. No, they have not. Why? Because Slimes have what amounts to around 5 Agility.

They. Are. Slow.

Well, there are some faster, but those are higher-Level, and only in the normal slimes. Any Special-Type slime will be locked into lower Agility amounts, sort of as a balance to their power. Not everything has that, but slimes are weaker monsters. Among the weakest of them all.

Surprisingly, the quartet manage to last for half an hour before I have to step in and actually kill the thing, all of them in critical Health levels. So I summon a Fireball and toss it over, incinerating the thing instantly.

Gavin checks on Luca after giving me a glare, and I approach them while Braden pokes Max a few times.

"You can all recover your Health normally," I say. "Gavin, Luca, neither of you are to use Heal. Braden, Max, don't try to learn it to recover once you have the Mana. It'll take less than twenty minutes for your Health to restore to full, even if the injuries themselves remain behind without fully healing yet.

"We were getting our butts kicked," Gavin glares at me again. "Why did you just watch us instead of help?"

"I stepped in once you all needed the help," I say. "But like morons, none of you bothered attempting a retreat. Why didn't you use your practical experience against the money slimes to think about whether or not that would work?"

Luca and Braden both blush at that, averting their gaze, Gavin clenches his jaw, and Max makes an 'O' with his mouth as he the thought of it crosses his mind. Then the thought of him strangling himself for being a moron.

That's… an interesting way of handling that feeling, Max.

"Come on," I say. "The food's probably a little cold, but that's what you get for not thinking about running from something significantly slower than you."

"I only have 5 Agility," Gavin points out.

"And who doesn't actually put effort into running in the mornings?" I ask. "There's a Skill called 'Dash', I'm sure you've been told about it, Gavin. It costs 10 Mana. In addition, you have teammates who could have helped you escape, delaying the slime while you took off."

"I would never abandon my team!"

"It's not abandoning if they're creating an opening, then fleeing themselves without actual danger to themselves," I point out. "There is a large difference between abandoning your team and taking advantage of them allowing you to escape so you can survive because you're the weakest link for escape in the situation. You can keep your morals and values, and hold to them, but at the same time still seem to violate them. This is one of those situations. You can't help anyone if you're dead. Braden could delay it, and Max could – barely – damage it if he had Luca's Blessing of Intellect. That should have been all that was needed for you to return here, then they could have returned with Luca. Am I clear, everyone?"

They all reluctantly accept that, then return with me to the house we're temporarily staying at.

"And remember," I tell them. "We don't own this property, so our Health and Mana restore at the normal rate, not the accelerated one. Eat up, and don't make a damn complaint about the food having gone cold. Consider it punishment for being idiots. I've trained you better than this, and mistakes like that can cost you your lives in a serious fight. You all want to participate in the big battle, yeah? Make use of your training while training. Let thinking like Adventurers become habit, not something you need to actively do. Am I clear?"

They all nod.

"Good," I tell them. "Now start eating."

They begin eating the now-cold steaks Max and Gavin prepared, along with the now-cold rolls. The fruit was already cold, but it also wasn't cooked.

Hopefully, the next time they're in such a situation, they think better. Otherwise, the Experience and Skill Levels they all got from that 'tough fight' will have been earned for nothing, too.

Please, Crystals and Big FD, please, please, please let them actually learn from this. That is part of why I've taken them here, to Talorn. I want them to think like they are in danger, even if they know they will be saved.

Sitting back and watching my team eat, I think about my Paladin Class. It's still only Holy Knight at the moment. Should I burn the Experience to boost it up to max Level? I was wanting to do that for Holy One, though. It takes 1,800% for a full Tier, since they start at Level 1 as soon as I hit them.

Speaking of Experience… it feels to me like my team is Leveling a little faster than they should, even with the difficulty increase here. Did the Crystals grant everyone in the Boundary an Experience Boost as preparation for this battle?

If the war is ending within a year, then it would make sense they want to help guarantee the final battle is fought. Big Flame is being mysterious about something, but also giddy, and I know he has something planned.

Then there is the secret project all of the Master Blacksmiths in Maelnor suddenly began working on today… after several more came into the City over the last few days. I know one of the Crystals is behind that, too, considering my sight is blocked from seeing it.

Something to ask them about, but probably not receive an answer for. I decide to project my thoughts about it to Big Flame, anyway.

"Big Flame," I send my thoughts into his Sacred Temple, rather than entering it myself or speaking to him verbally. Hopefully, this works. "Can you hear me?"

Yes, he responds. 'Sup?

"Is there an Experience boost granted to all Adventurers in the Boundary?" I ask. "My team seems to be gaining a little bit of extra Experience than I expected them to be."

Your team already gains at an advanced rate, he tells me. Which you already suspected to be the case. They all learn decently well, even for children, so their Experience is bolstered by that. Then you're pitting them against much stronger foes they've dealt with before, and-

"I'm the one who killed that one, Big Flame."

"I wasn't done," he sounds miffed by the interruption. "And part of the way Experience is designed is by how much struggle went into the fight plus how long it went for. If multiple people are participating heavily, and they are all struggling hard or barely doing anything to it, and the fight is extended, then even if someone else one-shots it, they'll be boosted massively. Even for someone like Gavin and Braden, who could only knock it back rather than damage it. They gained no Class Experience, but they did raise a Skill or two up. The length of time thing is why you gained a significant amount of Demon Experience for killing the Class 5, actually."

"It is?" I did notice that I earned more Experience for it than I had thought I would.

"Correct," he answers. "Because the System counted the fact that it took hours for her to die from your attack, an active Skill you used on her that continued to affect her through the Skill itself, as it being a struggle, even though you'd stopped fighting hours before. It's… honestly one of the flaws in the System. You should've really just gained a much lower amount of Experience from that, but it was counted as hours of fighting. It should've been the same as if you'd cut off someone's arm and they died from bleeding out."

Bleed damage doesn't count as part of the actual struggle or battle, and it makes sense that the Demon Sting's effect shouldn't have, either. I suppose that since it's a 'rare' Skill that's never actually been used before, it would make sense there might be a glitch in the System.

"I'm guessing Big S isn't going to bother fixing that, considering what he told me?"

He already has, actually, Big Flame informs me. Since Nik is probably going to Ascend soon, too. Hopefully.

I know his 'hopefully' is about him accepting the offer and not actually reaching Level 250. He's pretty close, so if all else fails, he will hit it by the battle for the valley.

"Got it," I tell Big Flame. "Thanks."

No problem. Good luck with training them!

"Thanks," I tell him, then look at my team. "After you finish eating, we'll rest for a few minutes, then check your gear and prepare for another fight. We'll be heading out in fifteen minutes."

"Understood," Gavin says as Luca and Braden nod.

"Yes, Boss!" Max happily salutes to me, then shoves another roll into his mouth.