The first rays of sun pulled Zack from a dream he couldn’t quite remember, a dream where he was a child again. In that dream his father, Malcolm Silverstone, was still alive. His father hadn’t been in the dream, of course—Zack hadn’t seen him there—but he’d felt his presence.

Sometimes, he still missed his father’s comforting and reassuring presence.

Yet he was trial age now, and an Adventurer. He wasn’t a child any longer, and he had no time to mourn the father he’d lost almost ten years ago. Instead, he had a job to handle this morning. A very nice young lady had requested a personal tour of Grassea.

Zack reflexively checked his hip pouch for the bulk of the strawberry-sized crystal hidden inside. Xiva’s crystal. He found it waiting, and unless some hidden Shadower was in his bedroom right now—a rather disconcerting thought—no one would care if he took it out and looked at it again. So in the darkness of his bedroom, with his mother asleep in the next room, Zack did just that.

The strange crystal didn’t glow, but it felt like it glowed. Just staring at it made Zack’s whole body tingle. Odder yet, when he held it up to the sunlight streaming in his window, the light didn’t refract. It was almost like the crystal ... absorbed it.

Magic crystal. Magic of the Gods. Just because he hadn’t seen a crystal like this before didn’t make it any stranger or miraculous than anything else in Balarel. The important thing was he hadn’t lost the crystal, which he couldn’t until he completed his job. His first job for the Shadower’s Guild.

Or so he hoped.

Zack tucked the crystal back into his hip pouch and slipped out of bed. He’d slipped in early yesterday morning, once he was certain his mother was asleep, and entirely intended to slip out this morning before she woke up to tend her stall on Market Street. He felt a fresh pang of guilt as he once again took pains to avoid her, but she’d made her feelings on his current exploits quite clear.

Beth Silverstone did not want him Leveling alone in Crackpaw Mine. She did not want him Leveling alone at all. She wanted him with a Party or at least a partner, and while Zack had no objection to the latter, especially if she was cute, he was done with the former.

After all, all the most infamous Shadowers worked alone.

Once Zack was dressed for adventure, in his [Cloth Armor] with his [Iron Dagger]s sheathed, he eased open his window with a minimum of noise and glanced outside. The sun had only just risen, and Wolfpine remained quiet. As much as Zack disliked mornings, he did like the quiet.

He’d slip out before his mother awoke, slip into the Mead Beast for a quick breakfast with a few coins from those Xiva paid him last night, and then reach the front gates of Wolfpine in time to get a look at the Blazer’s Guild representative. Zack had no fear of the Blazers—at least not yet—and Anna would certainly find it useful if Zack knew who they should avoid.

As he dropped onto the small alley between his mother’s house and the house next door, Zack reflected on his recent choices. Initially, he’d simply been interested in a night or two of fun with Anna, but now, both she and her brother’s plight genuinely intrigued him.

How had they gotten crosswise with the Blazers Guild? What, exactly, were she and her brother running from? What had happened back in Lindow Village, in Aquarine, half a world away?

“Hold it, Silverstone,” a deep voice demanded.

Zack all but jumped out of skin, mentally, as he spun to face the threat. A Shadower displeased with his choice to look at the strange crystal again? A Town Guard who’d mistaken him for a man burgling his own house?

Yet it was just Glenn. Devilspit. Glenn stood between Zack and the street, dressed for hunting in his [Ring-Mail Armor] and [Bronze Training Sword]. He had the biggest, most pleased grin on his face. His short brown hair was still wet, which meant he must have left his house not long ago.

Zack narrowed his eyes. He was the one who did the sneaking up on, not the one upon whom someone snuck. Yet as Glenn laughed, Zack barely kept a smile from his own face.

“That’s not funny,” Zack insisted, even though it kind of was. “And more importantly, what in the Six Hells are you doing outside my house?”

“Keeping a promise,” Glenn said, and stepped forward. “Your mother hasn’t seen you in days.”

When had Beth talked to Glenn about that? “That’s not true!” Zack said. “We saw each other yesterday afternoon!”

Glenn’s eyebrow rose as he considered, and then, his brow furrowed with concern. Zack recognized that expression as soon as he saw it. Glenn was going to try and help now.

“Is everything okay between you two?” Glenn asked.

“Of course it is,” Zack said, as he belatedly remembered his mother’s fervent pleading that he no longer hunt alone in the Crackpaw Mine. “She’s Mom.”

“So why do you keep avoiding her?”

“My business,” Zack said evenly. “Business I’d appreciate you staying out of.”

If Glenn knew Beth was worried about Zack Leveling alone, he would almost certainly insist on helping Zack again, or at least finding someone to help him. Yet Zack valued his independence and made his own choices, and Glenn had a new life with the Blazers ahead. Zack wouldn’t even consider doing anything that might compromise that.

Glenn grimaced, one booted foot tilting as it always did when he was conflicted by something, yet he spoke again soon enough. “That’s fair, but I did promise your mother I’d make sure you joined her for supper. Do you intend to make me a liar?”

Now Zack was truly baffled. “Why would you even promise something like that?”

“I needed a gift for Becka’s father. Your mom offered me a great deal.”

Zack groaned and rubbed his forehead. “Oh, she’s crafty. I’ll give her that.” His mother must have enlisted Glenn to track him down when he’d come to her stall to sell Life Crystals. “Not many people can so easily turn my friends against me.”

Glenn rolled his eyes. “Don’t be dramatic. It’s nothing like that.”

Glenn certainly wouldn’t see it that way. Yet Zack knew what had to happen now. His mother, as she always did, had found a way to bring up the topic again.

Ever since his father passed in the plague ten years ago, Beth had put on a brave face once Zack informed her he wanted to become an Adventurer. The Gods had honored his choice when he turned 16. Yet Zack knew he was his mother’s only remaining family, and more importantly, her only child.

He understood why Beth Silverstone might want him to take a safer road to the Divine Level Cap.

Yet playing things safe wasn’t who Zack was. He couldn’t be safe if he wanted to catch the attention of the Shadower’s Guild, and if he was correct about the reason Xiva had given him this job to deliver this strange crystal, he’d made all the right moves so far. It wouldn’t do to stumble now.

Yet Glenn didn’t look like he planned to move, and while Zack could temporarily slip away with [-Shadow Walk-], he’d then have to dodge Glenn the rest of the day and every time he returned to town. That sounded exhausting. He saw no real option but to temporarily accept his fate.

“And since you’re you, you’re not going to let this go, are you?”

Glenn smiled his widest smile. “What do you think?”

“If I agree to show up for supper with Mom tonight, will you stop bothering me?”

“Absolutely.”

“Then consider your debt paid,” Zack grumped.

He walked off toward the gates. He’d have supper with his mother tonight, as promised. When she offered some new argument as to why he shouldn’t risk his life in Crackpaw Mine, he’d promise her he wouldn’t hunt there any longer. And then, of course, he’d just go hunt there anyway.

“Off to hunt?” Glenn shouted after him.

Zack offered a wave without turning around. “Off to do something! You should too, if you want the Gods to bless you tonight.”

Behind him, Glenn gasped audibly. Zack smirked to himself as he quickened his pace for the southern gate. Given he’d been capped for three months, Glenn had likely forgotten that he could Level again. A full day of doing that should ensure Glenn didn’t stumble over today’s date with Anna Ironstar.

Yet was this to be a date? Anna had made it sound like it might be a date, especially since she was paying him for his expertise with supper and mead. The way Alan had tossed around coins last night, the Ironstar siblings were obviously wealthy, but just how long did they plan to stay in Grassea?

Plenty of time for those questions later. For now, Zack’s first order of business would be to get a look at the Blazers Guild representative. Assuming they followed his advice, Anna and her brother would lie low until mid-morning, when they could slip out without being seen by anyone but the Town Guards.

After he strolled into the Mead Beast and traded a few coins for a freshly made bread roll stuffed with delectable sausage—Sadie Wintershade made the best pigs in blankets he’d ever had—Zack hurried to the front gate. According to the clock tower overlooking Wolfpine, Zack reached the town gates just before 8 in the morning. More than early enough.

Mayor Coleman, that ass, was nowhere in sight, which assured Zack the Blazer’s Guild representative wasn’t here yet. How early did the representative plan to arrive? It might be some time, so Zack settled with his back to the Dewcrest house overlooking the gate and enjoyed his meal.

“And just who kicked you out of bed?” Becka asked mirthfully.