Chapter Seventy-Two.

(Zack)

"Where's Gold?" I ask.

"I rushed off as soon as I saw the firecracker," Nik tells me as I stretch, no longer bound to him through his magic. "He's still at the Dark Temple, though I think he's trying to move in."

He seems unsure on that, but a glance into the room with the fireplace we've been sleeping by tells me that he's probably right. I guess it makes sense, since I've taken two extended trips. I know he's been thinking about moving into the Dark Temple and making himself its permanent resident servant.

Gold seems happy making food without being forced to, and while I'm not happy he's 'serving' again, I'm happy that he's happy. In hindsight, the fact that he constantly insists on making the food despite the fact that I know I'm a decent chef should have told me that it's what he wants to do.

"He probably is," I tell Nik. "If that's what he wants, we should let him. He likes helping out around the place, anyway. I'm sure Kulkul would be grateful for it."

"Speaking of Demon Familiars," Nik chuckles. "Have you gotten yours yet?"

"No," I shrug. "I'm waiting until I find something truly powerful to sacrifice the heart of. Might be a Dragon."

"Please don't sacrifice a Dragon's heart for that," Nik says. "Especially since you can turn into one."

"Not at will," I pout.

One day. One day, I will turn into a Dragon that dwarfs Big S's Crystal form. But I need to get older for that. A lot older, I'm sure.

"One day," he ruffles my hair, and I pull away again, fixing it. "What are you planning on doing until your friend shows up?"

"Prep work," I answer. "I told you about the new resources. I'm going to see what Jackson can forge for me."

"Good luck," Nik laughs. "He's backed-up with orders."

"I'm sure he'll make an exception for me," I grin. "Tell Gold that I'll be there when I'm done around town."

"I'm not a messenger," he says.

"You're heading to the temple, aren't you?"

"Yes, but-"

"Then you can deliver it!" I grin at him. "See ya!"

I take off past him. He could probably catch me if he wanted, but he doesn't follow. After a few blocks, I slow down to a walk, strolling casually through the streets until I sense Kylie's mind, then I slip my hands into my pockets and stroll towards her.

"Hey, Kylie," I say, and she spins around, trying to stab me. I catch the blade as she realizes who I am. "Jumpy much?"

"I'm hiding behind some crates, stalking someone!" She hisses. "Yes, I'm a bit jumpy when someone suddenly shows up behind me and talks!"

"Who are you stalking, and why?"

"Samantha!" She answers. "I'm pretty sure she found a boyfriend, and I want to find out who it is!"

"Good luck with that," I say. "Speaking of boyfriends – were you trying to get me to go on a date with you before I left? Back when Gold was trying to tell me something and I thought you were sick?"

Her face reddens and her mind tells me all I need to know.

"I guess I was a bit dense, huh?" I ask. "Admittedly, you didn't tell me and Gold's a bit… jumbled. It isn't always easy trying to figure out what he's trying to tell me when he's embarrassed."

"How do you do it?" She asks.

"Do what?" I ask.

"Read his mind?"

"It's more like," I say. "I'm not ignoring his messages. Beastborn communicate the way most animals do – through emotions and impressions, rather than thoughts. Only snatches of words, which often won't make complete sense unless you have the emotions and impressions coming with them. It's part of why they don't talk, though they can speak. They don't to avoid being punished for saying the wrong word."

"Yeah, but you seem to read his mind," she says.

"It's less of that," I say. "And more of simply hearing what he's saying. Think of it like having a natural subconscious block to it due to thousands of generations of evolution without it. I don't have that block, so I'm able to receive the messages he's relaying. I think Nathan does, too."

"Who?" She gives me a confused look.

"Nathan Normar," I answer. "Am I the only person who calls him by his first name?"

"Yes," a quiet voice says behind me, and I sigh.

He's already gone. I suppose he's just passing through on his way to do something? Or was he checking me out because of my new status as an Ascended?

I'll probably never know.

"So you were?" I ask her, and she gives me another confused look. "Trying to get me to go on a date with you."

"Yes," she blushes deeply. "I was."

"Oh," I say. "Sorry for being so dense. Um… I'd like to, except… Big C said I'm getting a teammate soon, someone new to the Boundary. I'll probably need to show them the ropes and stuff for awhile."

Kylie looks pretty depressed. Does she think I'm rejecting her?

"I'm not saying no," I tell her. "After he gets settled in and the ropes shown, we can definitely go on a date."

"Alright," she smiles, her mood brightening up. "Thanks, Zack! Crap! Speaking of dates, I lost Samantha!"

"She's talking with her brother," I snort as she spins around. "They went into the Trading Post, probably to talk with the pervert. Anyway, I need to head off, I want to commission some new gear."

"I heard you have, like, four sets of armor and weapons," she says. "How many more do you need?"

"As many as it will take to kill the Shadow of Life," I answer. "See you around, Kylie."

I leave as she bids me farewell, and a few minutes later, I enter Jackson's shop. He's got a line of people, and is in the middle of telling them they'd be better off going to Erica. I'm guessing she's one of the Master Blacksmiths who came to Maelnor to do work. Several of the forges on this street have become active.

The man he's speaking with leaves, and I walk up to the counter, ignoring the line. Normally, I'd wait my turn, but I've got something that might not wait.

"Jackson," I say. "Before you serve this next customer, I wanted to say something. Nik and I were talking, and he compiled a list of people he thinks could benefit from gear forged with Primordial Essence and is worthy of actually having gear made with it. I had him working on it while I was gone. I'd be willing to give you twenty of it up-front, so long as I get paid for it when they make the commission for the gear. This way, you won't have to come to me every time you need it."

"Nik told me you had him doing that," Jackson nods. "One of them's in the line, actually."

"Oh, cool," I look down the line, reading the names until I spot a woman, a Champion of Light name Isabelle. "Hi, Isabelle. Nik spoke highly of you. Is it true you hunt wyverns in the mountains to the east?"

"It is," she smiles. "I have some scales here I'd like forged into gear. So you're the kid I've been hearing about."

"Yep!" I grin at her, then turn back to Jackson. "You can protect the essence from thieves, right?"

"I think hearing what you did to the last thief will be a deterrent from others," Jackson snorts. "Besides, anyone who steals Primordial Essence or objects made with it is now considered Bounty-worthy, according to the Crystals."

"Really?" I ask.

Yep! Big Flame responds, and I hear one of the other people in line snort.

He must be a Dark Knight, then. Set that to your Primary Class, boy.

"So we've got a deal?" I ask Jackson.

"We do," he says. "I already have a few orders waiting for the essence."

"Oh, cool," I say. "Guess Nik figured it'd be good to get this started. At least we don't need to be all secret-like about it. There is the possibility of someone killing the owner and taking it, but I'm sure that the very thought of me gutting them and hanging them by their entrails will put a stop to that."

"Thanks for that thought," Jackson mutters.

"You're welcome!" I say, then start pulling twenty jars of Primordial Essence out of my Inventory and set them on the counter. "Here's the twenty jars. You know where to contact me if you need more, though do remember that my supply is limited."

"Nik mentioned you had a fair few," he says. "Beyond the five you obtained from the Platinum Present. How many do you have?"

"Enough to last a few sets?" I shrug. "Once you're done with the line, I need to commission something, too, by the way."

"Understood," he says, taking the jars and sending them into his Inventory. "I'll get you the money that was set aside already."

I nod, then head to the back of the line and wait my turn, glad that I flipped the sign to Closed on my way in. I don't think anyone's noticed. If they have, no one's said anything.

"So," Jackson says once I reach the counter. "What's so secret that you thought you subtly closed my shop?"

"Can we head to the private room?" I ask.

Jackson leads me back there and triggers the privacy enchantment, and I pull out first a jar of Primordial Essence, then a jar of Crystal Essence, then a Primordial Ingot, then a Crystal Ingot.

Silently, he picks up each of the three new items and examines them, looking more and more amazed with each item.

"Do you think you can make me something good with these?" I ask.

"Yes," he answers. "Should I ask how you obtained these? I've never even heard of them before."

"Big S said they're just as rare as Primordial Essence," I answer. "But with other obtainment methods. Ascending rewards them as well – that's how I acquired them. I've no clue how to obtain them normally, so I just have the five I received from Ascending."

"Are you wanting just a sword and knife, then?" He asks.

"No," I answer. "I want a full set of armor. It doesn't need to be done until the battle, but no later than the estimated arrival. I want to use it for that. That should give you enough time to figure out how to work those, right?"

"Correct," he nods. "I'd need two of each, likely. Possibly three."

"I'll give you all five," I tell him. "As long as you promise to give me that which isn't used."

"Understood," he says. "Anything special you want with them?"

"Yes," I answer as I pull out the required materials, in addition to the Blood Ingots and Shadow Ingots I have remaining. "Can you make them black and red, to go with the rest of my gear? These should work for it."

"Eight ingots?" He asks. "I won't need that many of those for it."

"I know," I say. "I also want to commission something on a rush. True Dark Knight equipment, made solely of Blood Ingot and Shadow Ingot."

"How soon do you want them done?" He asks.

"A week?" I ask. "Can you do it in that time?"

"If I rearrange my forging schedule," he nods.

"Alright," I say. "I'll give you a Primordial Essence just for that, Jackson. Or whatever it was you had people paying for them."

"I've been charging a thousand platinum," he says. "Since I know that's what you said, with the Druid."

"Okay," I say, setting out the remaining five Mystic Crystals from my Inventory. "These are my last Mystic Crystals. Can you use them for the rush armor?"

"Sure," he says. "So it'll be a standard set of Dark Armor, tailored to you. Will that be all?"

"Yes, sir," I respond.

"Okay," he says. "Wait here."

He sends everything into his Inventory, then leaves. I'm glad he's trustworthy, or I'd have a hard time just giving him all of this stuff on faith. But Nik trusts him and he's proven trustworthy before, and his thoughts have shown him to be. So I trust him.

I kind of feel bad, though. He probably feels a lot of anxiety about having so much in terms of valuable materials on him. Especially since all of it will pretty much be too small for me eventually. That just means I need to obtain more of the materials so he can reforge them into larger pieces.

Or I could pass them on to someone else? I dunno. I don't think I'd like that, especially since most of it ends up named to me.

I'll figure that out eventually.

Jackson returns carrying a rather large wooden box, then sets it down.

"Eight were already requested," he says. "So there's seven thousand platinum in here. I took out the thousand you said I could have for the rush job."

"Alright," I say, opening the chest. I stare at all the money for a few moments before sending the coins into my Inventory. There's definitely a prideful grin on my face. "This is so cool."

Jackson laughs.

"Hey, Jackson?" I ask.

"Yes?"

"When I outgrow everything," I say. "Can you reforge it if you have more of the ingots used?"

"I could," he nods. "Though it would likely be weaker, as only a perfect match would work, and that can only happen with the original set. If you had more Temporal Ore, however, I'd be able to make equipment that grew with you."

"Really?" I ask.

"Yes," he nods. "I wasn't able to draw that out with your last sets, since there was enough going on already and I was using it for other things, but with these commissions, I'd be able to do it."

I pull out five Temporal Ingots.

"Did these come from the same source as the Primordial Essence?"

That was a fast assumption.

"Yes."

"Of course," he shakes his head. "Will you ever reveal the source?"

"If I feel there's something powerful enough to obtain them, yes," I answer. "The only reason I was able to do it was Zack's Holiday. Without those, I'd have died within a minute."

"The thing you saved Gold from?" He asks.

"Yes," I answer. "Though don't tell anyone. I would have died without Zack's Holiday. And quickly. I doubt Nik's team could take it on without equipment just as powerful."

"Understood," he says. "I won't. Was that all?"

"No," I pull out all of my Christmas Ingots, both red and green. I've eight of each. "You can have these. Consider them payment?"

Jackson laughs.

"Don't want them?" He asks.

"I don't even know what they can be used for!" I exclaims. "I don't have a use for them!"

Jackson accepts the ingots, telling me he knows a few things they can be used for when winter comes back around. I'm about to tell him to have a good day when I remember something and give him eight Spook Ingots. Just in case he can work them into the equipment without lowering the quality, since I like the fact that my gear draws magic away. He agrees to try his best for that, telling me that it's likely he'll be able to.

Since my business is now completed, I wish Jackson a good day and leave.

From now until Luca arrives, I'm going to train with the Dark Knights, prepare for Luca's arrival, and attempt to figure out who the heck the secret Dark Knight is.

With that in mind, I make my way to the Dark Temple, where Gold's apparently hiding from me. I manage to locate him after two hours, and when I do, he seems pretty scared, and his thoughts are too scrambled to figure out what's going on.

"Nik," I say when the Dark Knight locates us in the training yard. "Why does Gold seem terrified that I'm mad at him?"

"Oh, that?" Nik laughs. "Gold apparently convinced Blaine – who claims the boy didn't speak a word to him – to figure out a potion to counter the ill effects of Spook Treats using part of the Spook Treat you'd given him. Then, he gave his brother part of the Spook Treat during the day."

Gold communicated with someone other than Nathan, Aurum, or me? That's impressive! And he did it to play a prank on his brother!

"Did Blaine figure it out?" I ask.

"Yes, actually," Nik snorts. "Blaine's had suspicions for a few years, and had already been trying to figure out a cure for the illness, so he whipped one up for Gold, who gave it to his brother after a few minutes, then the rest of the Spook Treat that night."

"Well," I look at Gold, who's hanging his head low, his tail between his legs, ears drooping. He's really frightened and ashamed of himself. "I think that was an awesome prank, Gold! So. Did you complete my secret mission for you while I was gone?"

He shakes his head.

"Aw," I say. "Well, it can't be helped. They're doing their best to make sure I don't get told who the secret Dark Knight is. Let's go take a bath, Gold! I'm all sweaty from Talorn, and since you're living here now, we won't get to hang out as much unless I'm free."

Gold perks up at that, and I'm glad he's realized he's not in trouble for what he did to his brother. I'm sure his brother being upset at him was punishment enough, even if Aurum realized it was just a friendly prank between brothers.

I bet he's plotting revenge. Maybe I can help him with his plan while I'm waiting for Luca's arrival?