As Zeke went through the training exercises given to him by Silas, he focused entirely on the man’s lessons. It wasn’t enough to simply push forward with his shield. He had to do so with purpose. With intent. Every movement, whether it was a simple shield bash, or a more complicated motion intended to intercept an incoming weapon, had to be under control. It was a lesson he’d forgotten while fighting with his mace, the lack of control a bad habit which he needed to unlearn.

It was difficult. Not from a physical standpoint, of course – his stats were high enough that he could train for hours without straining himself. However, maintaining the necessary focus was incredibly taxing, almost to the point of giving Zeke a headache. That he could even do so for as long as he could was a hint that his mental stats, intelligence and wisdom, were tied to more than just his ability to use magic. He suspected that they also helped his memory and his ability to concentrate, but he hadn’t had the opportunity to ask anyone about it yet.

Nearby, Abby fired arrow after arrow at a distant tree, and Pudge did his best to mimic Zeke’s movements. It was comical, watching the bear stand on two legs and try to imitate Zeke’s complicated footwork, but in the two weeks since they’d left Beacon, the bear’s habit had proven effective. He had begun to move better and more smoothly, harnessing his agility and dexterity to great effect. When he finally caught up with Abby and Zeke, he would be a real terror in a fight – especially with [Mark of the Bear], which increased his vitality and endurance by a noticeable amount.

When Zeke had first taken the skill, he’d been a little skeptical. He certainly saw the use for it. His reasoning felt flawless, but the other available skills had seemed extremely powerful. He didn’t really lack for personal power, though, did he? He was strong, durable, and with his high vitality combined with [Leech Strike], he was extremely difficult to finish off. And now he had his enhanced resistances to cap it all off; his allies were a different story, though.

Abby was extremely capable. She had shown that so many times that he’d lost count, and her abilities had been reiterated when she’d assassinated Callum Einar in his own home. But Zeke still worried that she wouldn’t be able to keep up. [Mark of Companionship] helped by giving her access to [Leech Strike], but her endurance was still incredibly low, at least by his standards. And given the direction of her development, he didn’t think she’d ever invest heavily into the stat. So, if he wanted to keep her alive, he only had a few options.

She could invest in equipment, but even the best armor would just get in the way of how she usually fought. Abby was at her best when she could move, when she could avoid attacks altogether. So, while armor might solve the issue of her durability, it would come with significant detriments to her fighting style. The same could be said for the other option, which was her taking a skill that could protect her. Useful? Sure. Probably smart, too. But of the two of them, Zeke relied less on his skills, so it stood to reason that he should be the one to take the hit to his own personal power in favor of increasing the capability of their little group.

Besides, Zeke liked the idea of being a protector. He wanted to be able to defend himself, to use his mace as it was intended to be used. But if the fight with the drachnid queen had taught him anything, it was that he couldn’t stand toe-to-toe with the real monsters of this new world. He could survive. He could do a little damage. But if they wanted to win, if they wanted to progress, he needed to embrace an established role and let his allies do the same.

That was why he’d spent so much of his wealth on the armor and why he’d chosen to train with the shield. Sure, he could do more damage if he wielded his mace in two hands. And it felt more comfortable, too. But that wasn’t what he wanted to be. He wanted to be a protector. A bulwark between his enemies and his allies, taking the punishment they couldn’t so they could focus on their own roles.

Finally, after almost two hours of training, he stowed his shield and mace, then removed his armor and sent it to his spatial storage as well. After that, he turned to see Abby sitting in her customary spot – one of the rocking chairs she’d bought in Beacon. She’d been watching him train. For his part, Pudge had given up about halfway through the session, and now lay at Abby’s feet, snoring theatrically. He wasn’t asleep. He just wanted Zeke to think that he’d worked himself to exhaustion.

“You’re not fooling anyone, Pudge,” Zeke said as he approached the porch of the cottage. He collapsed onto one of the chairs. “God, that’s exhausting.”

“You’re moving better, though,” Abby said. She quirked a small smile before asking, “Do you want me to shoot at you again?”

Zeke groaned. A couple of days after they’d hit the road, Zeke had had the bright idea to ask Abby to shoot at him while he tried to block her arrows with his shield. It had not gone well. For one, her arrows moved so quickly that Zeke had trouble even perceiving them, much less getting his shield in the way. And when they hit, they did so with enough force that they left bruises, even through his armor and his endurance. In retrospect, it wasn’t difficult to see how she’d managed to land the killing blow on the drachnid queen when his own strikes had been mostly ineffective.

“No, thanks,” he said. “Maybe…uh…maybe tomorrow or something.”

He knew it was great training, but he wasn’t eager to revisit that pain. Not until he laid the groundwork for success, which was what he had been doing by going through the forms Silas had given him.

“It’s okay to take a break, you know,” Abby said, glancing in his direction. “People live a lot longer here, especially once they evolve their race. You’ve got decades to master your power.”

That wasn’t really news to Zeke. He’d learned from Silas that aging slowed to a crawl once a person managed to evolve. But Zeke just didn’t have it in him to take it easy and proceed at a more relaxed pace.

“I don’t think I can,” he admitted.

“Why? It’s easy,” she said. “Read a book. Play with Pudge. You can even –”

“I’ve told you a little about who I was back in the old world, right? Back on Earth,” he said, interrupting her. “But I haven’t really gone into it that much. I mean, who wants to hear that? But here’s the thing – ever since I was little, I’ve had a goal. I’ve had a purpose. My days were mapped out for me. I went to school, then I trained. Then came homework. That was it. I got one day off a week, and that was if I was lucky. My dad had this habit of…well, he liked to cram, I guess. Like, the whole time I was at school, he’d watch different drills and training videos online, and by the time I got out of school, he would want to try them all. What was supposed to be a two-hour practice would turn into four. Or six. But I didn’t know any better because that was all I knew. That was my life. Heck, he even had me on a nutrition plan where I would drink protein shakes twice a day.”

Zeke sighed, wishing he could just forget his past. In a lot of ways, it had made him the man he had become. Without the harsh training his father had put him through, he never could’ve made it through the troll caves. However, despite the benefits he’d gained, Zeke couldn’t bring himself to feel anything but hatred toward the abusive man. And he desperately wanted to move past that. But the moment he thought he had, someone would say something, or he’d have a stray thought, and it would all come crashing back into him. It was frustrating and a little depressing that even in another world, he couldn’t escape his father’s influence, but there was little he could do about it.

“I guess my point is that I don’t know any other way to live,” he said. “I don’t have hobbies. I don’t have any other interests. Before, I had baseball. That was my identity. I know it sucks. Looking back, I know it wasn’t healthy. But that’s the way it was. Now, I have my training to focus on. My mace. My shield. The runes. It feels even more important than playing a stupid sport ever did, because I know just how dangerous this world is. I know that if I don’t give this everything I have, I won’t be able to protect the people I care about. I won’t be able to accomplish my goals.”

“Moving on to the next world, right?” Abby said. “Or plane. Or realm. Whatever you call it. You seem so sure it exists. That’s a hell of a thing to take on faith.”

“Oberon had no reason to lie,” Zeke insisted. And besides, every aspect of his being told him that his new existence was intended for something bigger than the Radiant Isles. Perhaps it was hubris, but he felt it all the same. It was almost like he was being prepared for something. “And even if he did, it wouldn’t change anything. We still need to get stronger. That’s how this world works, right?”

Abby shrugged. “I suppose,” she said, her expression unreadable. “But this world is littered with people who’ve reached the pinnacle, and when they did, they had no idea what to do. Why do you think someone like Mags, back in Bastion, was running a barbecue joint? Why do you think Silas trains new recruits? People who are driven by nothing but improvement will inevitably hit a wall, and when they do, they don’t know what to do with themselves.”

“What about you?” Zeke asked.

“Do I want to get stronger? Of course,” she said.

“But you never explained why,” he persisted. “Listen, I’m not one to pry, but…”

“It’s fine,” she said. “We’re partners, right? Friends. You can ask whatever you want.”

“Why did you agree to go on that mission with Julio?” he asked. “I know you wanted to evolve your race. I get that. But you had to know it wouldn’t work out well. From what you told me, the guy was a creep and a probable rapist. And that skill he had…”

She sighed. “I didn’t know about the skill,” she said. “And I was overconfident. I thought I could survive. I mean, I was right, wasn’t I? I survived. I just never even considered how my decisions would affect anyone else. I knew Vlad was weak. I knew he couldn’t really stand up for himself. But I ignored it, all because I was so desperate for more power.”

“Why?”

“Because I know what happens to people when they’re weak, okay?” she spat, her tone igniting with anger and frustration. “Do you know what it’s like to be a pretty woman? No. Of course not. Even in the old world, it was just an invitation for all the worst people to take advantage. It’s always good, at first, but it never lasts. The moment he gets tired of you, though…that’s when his true colors would show. That’s when he’d get physical. That’s when he’d start lying. When he’d…”

Abby trailed off, staring off into the darkness. Tears glistened on her cheeks, and she remained silent for almost a minute before she continued, “That’s why I need to get stronger. I was weak, back then. Back on Earth. And I let that weakness govern my life. I lived in fear, and not just of my asshole husband. I was afraid to walk down the fucking street at night. And as much as I knew going with Julio was a bad idea – and I did; God, I did – I was willing to take that risk because the reward would get me where I needed to go. And when I got here, when I saw what I could do, what I could become, I made a vow to myself that I wouldn’t let fear guide me anymore. Not of monsters. Not of men or women. Not of anything. That’s why I chose to go. That’s why I’m here right now. Because I’m scared. Because I know this mission is probably a bad idea.”

“I won’t let anything happen to you,” Zeke said.

She barked a harsh laugh before wiping a tear from her cheek. “That’s the other point,” she said. “I trust you. But I don’t want to be dependent on anyone to keep me safe.”

Just then, Pudge stood up and put his head in her lap.

Team, Pudge thought as Abby absently scratched his ears. Protect each other.

Zeke nodded, saying, “You’re right, buddy.”

“What did he say?” Abby asked.

Zeke told her, adding, “And I couldn’t agree more. We’re in this together, Abby. Everyone has a role. I’m here to get hit and keep the monsters off you, and you’re there to do the damage.”

“You do plenty of damage on your own,” she pointed out.

Zeke shrugged. “Maybe for now,” he said. “And against weaker monsters, sure. But the minute we come against something like the drachnid champion, my damage goes way down. I can still probably outlast most things, but you’ve focused on increasing your own damage. And with that new bow, it’s only going to get better. We need to embrace that.”

“And Pudge?”

“Skirmisher,” Zeke said. “Or that’s what Silas suggested. You know, he flanks the enemy and stuff. Eventually, he might be able to stand beside me, but he’s not high enough level, yet.”

“That makes sense,” she said. “He’s going to get a lot bigger, isn’t he? He’s already grown so much. You might even be able to ride him someday.”

“Well, his mother was the size of a car, so I’m guessing Pudge will at least be that big,” he said. “Probably bigger. I didn’t see what level she was, but she got killed by harpies, so I’m thinking somewhere in the mid-teens. By the time Pudge gets into his twenties, he’ll be a real monster.”

“Our adorable monster,” she said, using both hands to scratch behind the bear’s ears. Zeke sensed a feeling of contentment coming from his companion, which brought a smile to his face.

“Yeah,” Zeke agreed. “I think –”

He never finished his thought, because an arrow slammed into his chest, rocketing him from his chair and sending him sprawling across the stone porch.