Chapter Ninety-Nine.

(Gavin)

When my surroundings change, taking me to my new home, I don't have time to assess my surroundings. Instead, I'm greeting with the sight of someone sitting on a chair, facing me, as if expecting my arrival.

"So the other one's Braden," he stands as I take a good look at him.

He's around thirteen, I'd say, with slightly-curled brown hair that's around a medium-short length, his blue eyes deep and entrancing, a sort of wisdom and intelligence in them that unnerves me. That, and mischief, though the rest of his face is serious. He's dressed in a tunic, pants, and boots, all of it black and red, with black and red armor, a sword strapped across his back and a knife at his hip. He's a little on the shorter side, I guess.

"And if you ever vocalize your thought that I'm short," his eyes narrow dangerously. "I will beat the crap out of you, Gavin."

"How do you know my name?" I ask, making it clear with my tone his threat annoys me.

"Appraisal," he answers. "It's a Skill. It allows you to see the name, Level, Health, and Mana of anyone up to fifteen Levels above your own, as long as their Appraisal Resistance isn't a higher Level than your Appraisal. My name is Zack, and I'm the party leader of those who live on this property. I'm also a Dark Knight."

"That doesn't sound trustworthy," at all.

"We are," he smiles broadly. "We're actually favored by the Crystals, and Big S – that's the Crystal of the System, for the uninitiated – actually sent out a message not that long ago, before the others arrived, saying that people needed to stop giving us shit and that we were the most devoted to the cause out of all other Classes and orders in the Boundary. You won't find a single Dark Knight serving the Shadow of Life. We are faithful to Big Flame, who absolutely no longer wishes to be called anything but that."

"And Big Flame is…?"

"He's dark, and he's fiery."

"Lord Dark of Fire?" I guess.

"Oi!" A childish voice, though not Lord Light of Air's, enters my head, sounding annoyed. "Zack just told you to call me 'Big Flame'!"

"Told you," Zack chuckles. "Big C, the one more commonly called 'Lord Light of Air', sent you to be a part of my team. If you reject it, you can either find another place to stay at, though you won't receive the passive bonus unless you buy the property or are accepted as part of the team by someone who owns the property, or you can stay at whichever training grounds you choose. Based on your sturdier build, I'd guess you wish to be a knight?"

"I don't know," I look around.

The house is an L-shape, and aside from this tree, there's a well pump, an outdoor firepit, and a table. The walls of this house have some ivy or something growing up them. Or is it down them? The walls surrounding the property aren't in the best condition, but there's something about this property that makes it feel… like home. I don't know why, though.

There's a layer of snow on the ground outside, but it's missing from the yard here other than a list dusting, no doubt from the snow that's begun to fall now. It must have started after Zack sat down, as the only disturbance in it is a strange circle of it around where he had sat.

"What passive bonus?" I ask.

"Health and Mana recovery rate is doubled while on your own property," he explains. "As you were placed here by the Crystals, this is your property until either someone buys it or you find a new home. Since I was the first to arrive here, I am the only person with the ability to buy it, though I'm waiting until the full team is assembled before doing so."

"How many are there?"

"Right now," he answers. "There are four of us, yourself included. There's one more coming."

Is that the Braden you mentioned?

"Yes," he answers, and I feel my eyes widen. "You're close enough to me physically that I'm easily able to read your mental state and can make accurate guesses as to what it is you're thinking. If you get close enough to me mentally and emotionally, I'll even be able to directly read your mind."

"Where are the other members?" I ask.

His right ear twitches, as if listening to something, then he snorts and shakes his head in amusement.

"Supposed to be getting to sleep," he indicates the night sky. "You showed up at night. I just sent them to bed half an hour ago. Since I'm not up there, Max is trying to cuddle Luca, who has a hard time sleeping alone. Luca isn't having it, mostly because Max sleeps naked, but Max isn't quite understanding that and trying to insist on it. This is a normal thing between them."

He holds out his hands, and a set of clothes appear.

"Here are some night clothes," he tells me. "They should fit you, I asked Big C for your sizes so I could have them ready."

"It's Lord Light of Air," I correct him. "Be respectful to the Crystals, they saved us."

"Perhaps," he shrugs. "Big C and I don't get along."

I wonder why.

"So," he smiles. "You've died. If you'd like to take a bath before bed, it's through that doorway. The bath's always warm and ready, so don't worry about that. The bedrooms are upstairs. There are three of them, though we all sleep at the one furthest from the stairs. In the morning, I can give you the grand tour of Maelnor and get your Class decided on."

I don't know what to make of him. He seems disrespectful to the Crystals, though one does seem to prefer to be called by the nickname he uses. But that dangerous glare he gave me, and the mischief in his eyes… should I trust him?

"Whatever you decide," he says. "Go ahead. If you don't want to be a part of my team, I'll help you find a place tomorrow."

He makes his way to the stairs that lead up to the second level, disappearing into the door on the second floor. I look down at the clothes he handed me. When did I accept them? I don't recall taking them from him.

Deciding to at least spend the night here, I make my way to the door he showed me and find myself in a room with a bath. It's more like an open space, though, because there's no roof. What do they do when it rains? I know the snow is melting in the steam from the bath and evaporating away pretty much immediately, but the rain won't do that, will it?

I strip down as I figure out how the bath works. There's a part for scrubbing myself, where I have to fill a wooden bucket with water first, then after I rinse off, I can soak in the bath. The water itself smells nice, and there are some bubbles floating around, along with a wooden dog.

After cleaning myself and soaking for awhile, I climb out of the bath and dry off with one of the towels resting on a shelf. I drop the towel in a wooden crate containing a few other used towels, then dress in the night clothes Zack gave me. They're lighter in feel and texture than the ones Lord Light of Air gave me when I arrived here.

"Thank you, Lord Light of Air, for putting clothes on me when sending me here, rather than not or having them given to me after arrival," I send a prayer up to him.

I don't think I would have been comfortable appearing butt-naked in front of Zack. It was already uncomfortable enough to be in the presence of Lord Light of Air like that, but I would never voice that.

My body isn't lean, like Zack's seemed to be, but a little on the more muscular side. Maybe I did a lot of training before dying? How did I die? And why? I'm pretty sure someone with a body like mine isn't normally someone who would just die, even if I can't remember my old world.

Dressed, I make my way upstairs and go to the room Zack mentioned, just to check it out. On the top bunk to the left of the door is a boy with… I can't really make it out, it's dark in here. It looks odd, though. On the bottom bunk of that bed is Zack, snuggling against a smaller form. A little kid?

When I think about how dark it is in here, I decide to sleep with them rather than in a room on my own. It's not that I'm scared of the dark, it's just that there is safety in numbers. That's right. Safety in numbers.

I climb onto the bottom bunk of the other bed, and quickly fall asleep, waking when something impacts on my chest.

"Max!" A voice exclaims as I gasp, instinctively shoving whatever it was off of me. "No jumping on the new guy!"

"Yes, Boss!" A cheerful voice responds. "Gavin-friend awake!"

"Because you jumped on him!"

I look at the others. The boy who was on the upper bed… has the ears and tail of a wolf, and if I'm not mistaken, his canines are a little bit sharper than I think they should be. His blue eyes are full of energy, and he is giving me a happy look.

"Max!" He exclaims.

"That's Max," Zack says. He's the one who scolded Max. "He's a beastborn, they're native to the Boundary. Normally, they don't have Access to the System, but Max and one other, a dog beastborn named Gold, do. Big S is going to start connecting them over the years, whenever he has enough magical power to. It consumes a lot, so he has to rest between them. Max is a magician-rogue hybrid who'll become a Dark Knight later on. His magical specialty is fire magic."

Zack is wearing just a pair of pants similar to the ones he wore when he greeted me last night, though he's barefoot and not wearing his armor. His sword and knife are resting against his bed, though.

He's kneeling in front of another boy, angled so that I'm looking at their sides, and I can see his muscles. He doesn't have as many muscles as me, but they're probably a lot stronger. He's really well-defined, his muscles tight beneath his skin. He even has a six-pack set of abs.

Where did that phrase come from? I suppose it stems from my past life and missing memories. Lord Light of Air mentioned that I will sometimes use phrases from there, though they will become less and less as I adjust to the Boundary.

I'm kind of jealous at his lean definition. I'm still growing, though.

The third boy looks around eight, though he may just be a short nine or ten. He has blond hair and light blue eyes, and is giving me an uneasy look as Zack pulls the boy's tunic on him.

"Arms, Luca," Zack says, and the boy works his arms into the tunic. "This is Luca, Gavin. He's the party's healer. Don't let his age of ten years deceive you, he's got quite the Mana pool, so even though his Heal spell isn't all that powerful yet, he can use it quite a lot."

Zack fixes Luca's belt around the boy's waist, then picks up an elegant wooden staff from where it was resting against the wall and hands it to the boy.

"And you've met me," he pulls a red tunic with black detailing out of thin air, then pulls it on. "Zack, the party leader and Dark Knight. I've been here several months longer than Luca, who was the second to arrive, so I'm a little bit stronger than the rest of you. For awhile after everyone arrives, we'll work on getting all of you up-to-strength in your respective Classes, if you wish to remain with us."

By the time he's finished talking, Zack has equipped armor he's also pulled out of thin air, the same armor he wore last night, and equipped his sword and knife as well.

Maybe I can stay around for a little while. I doubt everyone here would be as willing to help teach a kid as he seems to be, and I don't trust him with the little one. I sense a lot of mischief in him, and the younger boy seems to be sensitive, even if he's now half-hiding behind Zack.

A strange situation, for sure.

"Do you know what kind of Class you want?" Zack asks. "You don't have to answer that now, as you can take your time to assess your options."

I should be a counter to him.

"Is there a good version of what you do?" I ask. "A sort of holy knight?"

"Yes," he nods. "The Paladin. I would recommend becoming a regular Squire first, as it requires less than Holy Squire. Those are the first stages to the Class. Dark Squire is Dark Knight's. It will also be easier to Level the Knight Class than the Paladin Class for a starter. Once you reach a total Level of 25 in a Class, or Tier 3 Level 5, you can take on another Class. At that point would be where most would recommend taking on Paladin."

He explains how the Class system works, and the five Tiers to each. He also mentions that these are Rank 1 Classes, and that Rank 2 Classes require reaching Tier 5 of specific Classes to unlock. He also mentions that the higher a Class's Rank, the harder it is to acquire Experience for it, and the same goes for the higher an Adventurer's Level is.

"Are there Rank 3 Classes?" I ask.

"Yes," he nods. "However, only one person in history has ever attained them – it requires a special feat called Ascension to unlock the ability to take on Rank 3 Classes. Ascension requires reaching Level 250 overall for your Classes, then completing an Ascension Trial. Eighty-something in history have reached it, so that should tell you how rare it is to even manage such a high Level."

"Okay," I say. "If you're a Dark Knight, then you've already reach Level 25 of Knight?"

"I went straight for Dark Knight," he shook his head. "Attaining the Skills aren't exactly difficult, so I went right for them. I wasn't daunted by the fact that it takes more to earn Experience for than Knight and should normally delay me in Levels if I take it as my first class.

"Speaking of taking on Classes," he adds. "Without a special Subclass called Adventurer, which requires a total sum of Skill Levels equal to one hundred without taking on a Class, you can't take on both a holy and a cursed Class, which means that if you go Paladin or Priest, you'll be incapable of taking on Dark Knight and Blood Priest."

"That's fine by me," I tell him. "I would like to become a Knight, then a Paladin. If someone more official says the same thing as you. Otherwise, I would like to become a Paladin first."

"Okay," he shrugs. "After breakfast, we can head down to the Trading Post. You can get an opinion there. Max is probably almost done cooking."

I look around, only now noticing that Max is gone.

"Before we head down for breakfast," he says. "Can you pull up your Status and show it to me? Just think or say 'Status' with the intent to pull it up, then focus on me and will me the ability to see it."

"Status," I pull up my Status, then wish him to see it.

Character Information Light of Stone Name: Gavin Primary Class: None Level: 0 Unavailable: Unavailable Title: None Unavailable: Unavailable Health: 30/30 Mana: 20/20 Strength: 6 Intellect: 4 Endurance: 4 Willpower: 4 Vitality: 3 Wisdom: 2 Agility: 1 Perception: 1

"Those are some decent stats," he looks annoyed. "Why is it that every fucking member of my fucking team starts with twenty-five fucking Stat Points already?"

What?

"Sorry," he gives me an annoyed look. "Someone just acquiring Access will have anywhere from eight to twenty-five Stat Points already allocated. Those are your 'base' values, which are part of what determines how many you acquire every fifth Overall Level, which is the displayed Level in your Status. You can also have an additional zero to eight allocated on top of those every fifth Overall Level. I received the full value of my base, which is one in each Stat, but no additional points allocated each Level. With my luck, you'll also receive eight additional allocated each proc."

I don't fully understand that.

(Zack)

Gavin didn't fully understand everything, but I guess that should be normal. He'll understand with time and experience. Instead of explaining further, I led him downstairs, where Max had finished making pancakes for breakfast.

Now, we're entering the Trading Post, and I'm watching Gavin's reaction as he enters before me. Max is giggling as he anticipates Gavin's response to meeting Jesse, and Luca's clinging to the back of my tunic, hiding behind me.

There's someone blocking the view, a female Paladin I don't recognize, though she does look familiar. She shifts a little when we enter, and Gavin gets a look at Jesse, freezing in his tracks. Max explodes into laughter.

"Zacky!" Jesse exclaims.

I will drown you in a sea of blood.

"'Sup, Pervert?" I skip to the counter, Luca quickly following behind as Max races to the counter and waves. "I've got a new teammate, and hey, there's someone here who could probably give him the same advice I did and be trusted better!"

I look at the paladin.

"You look familiar," I say. "Do I know you and have somehow forgotten?"

"No," she smiles. "I'm Nina, Travis's daughter."

"Travis has one of those?" I ask, causing her to laugh. "Hey, so Gavin here wants to be a Paladin, but he doesn't trust me when I told him that he should go Knight first."

"He's right," she looks at Gavin, who's approaching hesitantly as he gives Jesse an uneasy look. "It is rare for someone to go straight for Dark Knight or Paladin instead of taking on Knight first. Having Knight first give a good foundation which enables you to handle the more intense things that those two Classes provide and require easier. Cases like Zack here are rare and extreme."

"See?" I look at Gavin. "Advice from a Paladin."

She gives me an amused look.

"My father told me what you're doing," she says, and I grin at her. "Good luck, Zack."

She looks back to Jesse.

"Anyway," she says. "Can you keep an eye out for that?"

"I will!" Jesse responds in that high-pitched voice of his. "See you around, Nina! Tell your daddy 'hi' for me!"

Pretty sure you talk with Travis every day.

"See you," she chuckles, then leaves.

"Alright, Pervert!" I say. "Gavin wants to be a Knight, so we need a sword and a knife for him."

"You know the rules, Zacky!"

I will boil your entrails and feed your liver to a goblin.

"Fine," I say. "Give him a sword. Then, after he's accepted the sword, give him the knife."

"That's not how it works!" He says. "We went over this with Max!"

"Yes," I say. "So one would think you'd know by now. Also, we need some bread, jerky, and-"

"No!" He squeals. "Zacky! You already have food! Lots of it!"

I will dunk you in an acid bath.

"Sword and knife, Pervert," I say. "Or do you want a kind, gentle, devoted fan of Big C to be weaponless and defenseless when all he wants to is to help fight against the monsters and the Shadow of Life? He comes from a sad background, having already died once."