The week following Zach's 18th birthday came and went with surprising quickness despite each and every day having been utterly exhausting, though not in the physical sense. Mostly, it was the lack of time compared to the amount that needed doing. Put simply, Zach now had two primary responsibilities, both of which were greatly taxing.

First, he needed to ensure that everything was in order with the reconstruction of Ogre's Axe. He needed to be confident that he did not leave Grundor in an untenable position where he was destined to fail. Sure, Grundor was a shockingly capable zombie, but no matter how creative or resourceful he was, Zach refused to let Grundor shoulder more than he could reasonably handle. For this reason, he made sure he resolved many of the outstanding issues related to building permits, and that required numerous phone calls, follow-ups, and meetings.

Throughout all this, he was also preparing for Albion-4. He'd begun sourcing red, yellow, and purple rejuvenation stones, which were no longer quite so rare or difficult to obtain. He'd also bought a handful of escape ropes and some other various items that had uses that weren't clear just yet but might make more sense upon reaching Albion-4, such as those teleport stones.

Thanks to all their weekly Mushkie runs, most adventurers had at least a couple of stones or other items to spare, and so in no time at all, Zach had been able to collect eight reds, five yellows, and four purples. Not bad for just a few quick visits to Angelica's, huh? It was also nice to catch up with the other adventurers, many of whom he either hadn't seen in a good long time or didn't recognize at all. There were also some newer adventurers as well, and they were a mixture of human and Elvish teenagers.

They were also kind of dicks.

"Is that him?" a kid probably no older than fourteen had asked during Zach's trip to Angelica's yesterday. "He doesn't look like all that much."

"Kid, you better watch it," an older, silver-haired adventurer had replied. "Zach is a legend."

"Him?"

The question had annoyed many of the older adventurers as well. "Let me know when you've tanked a dragon, ya little shit," one had said.

Actually, many of the other adventurers had defended him, so Zach hadn't even bothered to look at the kid or dignify his insult with a reply. The same was true for the other hotheaded teens who'd recently joined the ranks. Surprisingly, even some of the younger Elves were rude. They were lucky Zach wasn't a snitch. If he told Queen Vayra they were being dicks to him, they'd get an ass whooping. Regardless, Zach had quickly put it out of mind and focused instead on buying more supplies for his journey.

"Are you really heading out solo to look for Donovan and the others?" a woman had asked him upon selling him a red stone.

"Yep," he'd replied. "If they're alive, I'll find them."

"They're definitely alive, so bring 'em home! Oh, and make sure you bring back Jimmy, too."

There had been many murmurs of agreement that had followed those words. Despite being gone for so long, the adventuring community had not forgotten about Jimmy. If anything, his own legend had grown tremendously in his absence. During the short time he'd been on Galterra, he had clearly made a magnificently huge impact on the adventuring community, and they wanted him back badly.

"Is Zephyr still not around?" Zach had asked.

"You just missed him, Zach," a man had told him.

Unfortunately, Zephyr hadn't happened to be around on any of his other three trips here, either, as Zach had been hoping to see the man before he left. As things stood, it was unlikely he would get the chance, as he'd known that it would likely be his final supply-run to Angelica's.

Now, as he waited for the red lights of the DEHV crossing barriers to fade on this bustling city street in eastern Giant's Fall, he raised his hand to wave at the sound of his name being called.

"Sir Calador!" shouted a woman's voice. Her shout was followed by dozens more as Zach crossed the street with Grundor by his side following along. As he did so, people began opening their DEHV doors and jumping out to yell and wave to him. Zach was genuinely beloved in this city, and he made sure he always waved back and treated the citizens here with respect. And he did so from a genuine place of caring, too.

Shortly after entering the public spotlight, Zach had learned a lesson about being rude to regular level-1 civilians, and for a long time now, he'd maintained a friendly, courteous attitude towards them; at first, however, it had been simply to avoid the negative perceptions that would arise any time he came across as impatient or rude. But over time, he'd grown to really care about the people here in Giant's Fall.

"Hello, hello," Zach said as he crossed the street. "It's nice to meet all of you, but uh, please try not to hold up traffic!"

Hurrying across to the opposite sidewalk, he was relieved to see everyone back in their DEHVs before the crossing lights changed and the barriers reappeared. With that, he entered the front glass door of a very tall skyscraper that served as the most important governmental building in the entire region of Giant's Fall: the Rose Tower.

"Zach, wait a second," Grundor said as he paused in the lobby. Zach came to a stop beside him.

"I know," Zach replied quickly, trying to preempt whatever the zombie was about to say. It didn't work.

"Do you? I don't mean to be like a nanny or whatever, Zach, but I think it's bad if we have a repeat of what happened last week."

Zach sighed. "There won't be a repeat. Come on, let's go."

"Are you sure? Because you're about to drop some really tough news on him, and just to begin with, it seems like every time you two meet, you both end up—"

"Grund, it'll be fine. Everything will go calmly and quickly."

Grundor continued to hesitate, but then, with a groan, he followed after Zach. The two of them then proceeded onwards, and both smiled and said hello to the receptionist before Zach removed an ID card from his suit and scanned it, causing a light in front of an elevator to turn green. A moment later, the door opened, and he and the zombie entered. Zach thumbed the button labeled 92 and then tried his best to ignore Grundor's apprehensive looks as they ascended upwards to a floor near the top of the skyscraper.

A moment later, the elevator came to a halt, the doors opened, and Zach exited into a large, spacious office decorated with fancy carpets, roses in flower pots, and with a dedicated, fully staffed kitchen working on dinner. The luxurious office also doubled as living quarters, as down the hall there were several doors leading to large, well-furnished rooms both for sleeping and entertainment alike.

"Sir Grundor, Sir Calador," said a woman seated at a desk in front of a glass door leading to Vim's office. "You're a few minutes late."

"Traffic," both he and Grundor replied in unison.

She nodded. "Sir Alazar will see both of you right away." With that, she stood up from her desk, grabbed the door handle, and opened it. "Please," she said, gesturing for them to enter.

Zach made his way inside with Grundor, and then the two sat next to one another in large, black, and leather-covered cushions that faced the desk where Vim was seated with his hands folded. Though his posture was professional, his expression was anything but. Vim didn't even seem to be attempting to mask his disappointment and anger.

"Sir Grundor," he began, his tone formal and composed. He gave a firm, but respectful bow of his head to Grundor, and Grundor returned one back his way.

But then he regarded Zach.

"And Sir Moron," he continued, giving no such bow of his head and offering only a scowl.

Zach rolled his eyes. "Vim, don't start."

"Start what, Sir Moron?"

Grundor shifted nervously. But he had no reason to be nervous. This wasn't going to escalate like it had last week. Zach knew that Grundor became very uncomfortable and anxious when he and Vim fought, which was why he wasn't going to do this again. Definitely not. He was going to be calm and cool.

Vim leaned forward somewhat in his chair and tapped his desk several times, causing a 3D image of North Bastia to appear above its surface panel in the form of a hologram. He then made several waving motions and manipulated this image such that it honed in on a particular southern region: Tomb of Fire.

"Do you see those red dots?" he asked, making a waving motion and zooming in even closer. "Those ones, right there. All those red little dots."

Zach felt his mood souring. "What about them?"

"Those," he explained, "represent military deployments containing between one and five hundred troops and at least one leveled commander."

"All right. Your point?"

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"My point is that there's a lot of them, right? I guess you could say that the Guild of Gentlemen are really starting to rebuild their ranks, aren't they?"

Zach shrugged. "Okay, so? Of course they're going to want to protect their borders. Tomb of Fire is the only region the Guild of Gentlemen still control in all of Galterra."

Before replying, Vim zoomed out on the map, then zoomed in on Giant's Fall but only for a moment. He then hovered the map over Spider's Eye Oasis before scrolling all the way downwards towards Shadowfall Coast.

"Do you see those little red dots, Sir Moron?"

Zach felt his muscles tightening with anger as Vim seemed poised to start berating him. "Yes, Vim, I can see the red dots. What are you getting at here?"

Vim exhaled. "Nothing. I'm just noticing that there doesn't seem to be nearly as many these days."

"Okay, so?"

"I'm just wondering why that is, Sir Moron. I wonder why we have so many fewer dots on the map than the Guild of Gentlemen." He began stroking his beard. "Hmm, it's almost like someone has been cutting our military budget over and over and over."

Zach didn't respond until after he'd taken a deep breath, held it in for a few seconds, and slowly released it. "Vim," he said calmly, "we've been over this a thousand times. The Department of Learning needs funding or kids aren't going to receive a proper education."

Vim's voice dropped to a whisper. "You know what else stops kids from receiving an education, Zach?"

"What?"

And just like that, he exploded, his voice erupting in a scream as he banged both his fists down onto his desk and caused a static-like flicker to briefly distort the hologram. "GETTING FUCKING NUKED!"

Zach frowned. "You're paranoid. The technology to make those is gone, and uh, nobody wants another conventional war. People have had enough of that. Right now, the DOL has huge funding shortfalls and I'm doing everything I can to keep schools from closing."

"Gods, Zach, you're so fucking stupid!" he snapped. "If the Guild of Gentlemen launch a full-scale assault, there's no guarantee we would win a second time. Taking Shadowfall Coast has cost the Royal Roses and our allies in the Lords of Justice much more than you realize. And the People of Virtue aren't going to risk their asses if we're attacked unless they themselves are directly threatened."

"Well, it's a good thing we're not going to be attacked."

"You don't fucking know that!" he shouted, slamming his fists down again. "Right now, we need to be strong. Right now, everything we do needs to be for the sake of survival! We are in survival mode—at least until we can restart global trade. Only then will we have the money for excesses like education."

Zach was unable to respond for the moment, as he was stifling his anger at the way Vim had spoken to him. Grundor, shifting uncomfortably on his cushion, made as if to say something, but Vim spoke up yet again before he could.

"What really pisses me off is that you clearly knew I'd never approve of this, so you went ahead and made a press announcement so that I wouldn't be able to undermine you without looking bad. Who taught you that tactic, anyway?"

"Haisel," Zach replied.

"Figures." Vim tapped his fingers against his desk, dismissing the holographic map. Then he sighed. "You need to get smarter about these matters, Zach."

"Oh yeah? Well, I guess you'll just have to send me to school or something—oh, wait! Oops. You don't want us to have those in Giant's Fall anymore."

Zach knew he was going to pay for the quip. Vim would never allow a biting remark to go unanswered. And from the way Grundor buried his face into his hands, Grundor knew it as well.

"School can't help you, Zach. Not unless it's one of those ones you attend while wearing a helmet."

"Yeah, well, thanks to me, those ones are staying open, too."

"A waste of money if you're not attending."

"Oh, my bad. I guess we're better off buying more tank DEHVs to sit on a hill all day and do nothing."

Vim made a small huff. "Yeah, you're right, Zach. You're absolutely right. Let's get rid of them all. In fact, let's put up a giant billboard that says, 'Please invade us! We're undefended because we're stupid.'"

"Sure," Zach agreed. "And right next to it, let's add a second sign that says: 'because we don't have any schools in Giant's Fall.'"

Vim's eyes narrowed. "If your IQ was any lower, you'd be in a wheelchair."

"I'd still have to look down just to see you, Vim."

"I'm fine with that, Zach. I'd rather be short than be a fucking—"

Grundor, seemingly having heard enough, removed his face from his hands and said, "Can you two guys please get along for once? You're already fighting, and Zach hasn't even told you yet that he's—"

He cut himself off from finishing his sentence, his words ending in a croak as Vim immediately snapped his head towards the zombie and asked, "Hasn't told me that he's what?"

"Uh, sorry. It's not my place to say." He averted his gaze. "Me and my big mouth."

Vim, clearly becoming agitated, began whipping his head back and forth between Zach and Grundor. "Okay, what the fuck is going on? What have you done, Zach? What aren't I being told about?"

Zach glared at Grundor, who refused to meet his or Vim's eyes. "I was going to work this into the conversation after we settled things with the DOL, Grund. Gods-dammit."

The agitation Vim was displaying seemed to triple. "Zach, cut the shit now. What is it? What's going on?"

Zach turned his head and looked directly at his guild-leader. "Vim…it's been eight months."

Just by uttering those words alone, Zach had caused Vim to erupt into such a rage he began to shake. His head looked like it was going to pop. "Oh no. Not this shit again. We are so done with this conversation! I mean it!"

"I have to go, Vim."

For the third time, a bang resounded in the office as Vim slammed his fists down. Interestingly, the fact that he never actually damaged his desk was sort of evidence that he was still maintaining a level of self-control despite the outburst.

"I can't believe you're trying to pull this again. Again! Why won't you put this foolishness behind you already?"

"Because I need to find them. Like I said, Vim, it's been eight long months."

Vim's voice surprisingly softened. Zach had expected him to keep shouting louder and with more vulgarity, but instead, he shook his head and then spoke at just above a whisper. "Look, I hate to tell you this, Zach, but your friends? They're probably all dead. I've avoided saying this to you because I know how you feel, but I can't keep coddling you. The adventurers who went to that planet are probably gone."

"I know," Zach whispered, to which Vim's eyebrows raised.

"Wait, you do?"

"Yeah. I'm not as stupid as you think I am. I realize they're almost certainly dead. I've known for some time now."

"Then…then what the hell are we even arguing about?"

Zach crossed his arms and sat back in the cushion. "I need to be sure," he said, his voice still low. "I need to confirm it."

Vim's anger returned at once. "You're an idiot! You'll die. If all the greatest adventurers couldn't succeed together, what makes you think you will do any better?"

"Because I just will. Sorry if that's not a convincing explanation, but it's how I feel."

Vim got up from his desk and began pacing around his office. "The people of Giant's Fall need you, Zach. The guild needs you. I need you. All of humanity needs you! How can I in good conscience let you run off and commit an act of obvious suicide?"

"I've already made my decision, Vim. I'm just here to tell you about it."

Vim swore, loudly. "Zach, stop for a moment and think. Just think. That one adventurer that everyone said was so great—what was his name again?—the kid you like to hang out with. He was with the rest of your friends. If he died out there, how can you possibly succeed?"

"His name was—is—Jimmy, and like I said, I won't die. And I don't know for sure that anyone's dead. What if they're not, Vim? What if they're all alive and trapped?"

"Then let the other adventurers deal with it. Now is a terrible time for you to be running off doing this."

"It's always a terrible time," Zach said. "It'll never be a good time. Might as well get this out of the way now."

Vim tugged on his beard. "Fuck!" he shouted. Then, even more loudly, he shouted it again. "Fuck-fuck-fuck!"

"I'm sorry."

"When are you leaving?" Vim asked him.

"This evening."

"How are you getting there? Have you packed enough supplies?"

"I'm going to do a jump from a high-altitude jet. And yeah, I've got enough supplies. Two big backpacks stuffed with non-perishables. And plenty of stones in Bank and Storage. I'm as good as good can be on that front."

Vim again began pacing. "Putting aside how much of a loss this is from a guild perspective, the idea of you dying for nothing also makes me sad. Zach, I implore you: don't do this."

Zach couldn't help but smile, because he could see now that the grumpy Gnome bastard really did care, even if he hated showing it. Still, he'd made up his mind. And although it was likely a fool's errand, if there was any chance at all he could find them alive, he had to take it. He missed them dearly.

It's been almost a year since I've seen them, he thought. I'd give anything to see them again.

"I'm going, Vim."

Vim at last stopped pacing. He leaned forward and tapped his forehead against his office wall several times. "This kid is impossible," he muttered as though speaking to himself. Eventually, however, he again faced Zach, and now, he said, "Don't get yourself killed. Please."

"I won't. I promise."

Vim nodded. "I'm holding you to that. Now get the fuck out of my office. Both of you."

********

Zach had to hold the headphones closer to his ears in order to hear Grundor's voice over the roar of the cargo jet's engines, which were so loud here in the rear hold that it was almost deafening.

"When you see Master, tell him I miss him!" Grundor said, strapped into the bench-like seat across from Zach.

"Of course!" Zach replied. Grundor didn't look like he could hear Zach, so to be sure that Grundor's request was understood, Zach gave a thumbs up. Then he resumed folding his arms and shivering, as the jet's heating did not work well back here and it was insanely cold.

And loud!

Right now, he was flying at 51,000 feet above sea level in the skies near Plains of Mist. Vim had needed to loan him a military-style aircraft, as his own personal jet couldn't safely ascend higher than 40k. This, of course, was because the sky island's altitude and position were constantly changing, and Zach happened to be unlucky with regard to the former. If he waited another two weeks, the island would be low enough to the ground that he might even be able to reach it with a helicopter.

No more waiting, he thought. I can't spend another night wondering. I need answers or it'll burn me alive.

There were no windows here in this hold, but Zach didn't need any to know that he was flying in excellent conditions. Right now, it was about two-and-a-half hours until sunset with clear, sunny conditions that gave excellent visibility—or so the pilot claimed.

"Sir Calador, we're approaching the jump point. Five minutes."

"Got it," he said.

It wasn't just the loudness of the aircraft that made it difficult to hear, but also the way his suit functioned. Apparently, no matter what level someone happened to be, death via hypoxia was guaranteed at this altitude without supplemental oxygen. And so here he was, wearing a pressurized flight suit over his fancy Royal Roses uniform along with an oxygen tank strapped to his back so that he could survive once he leapt out of the plane.

He'd be fine when he touched down, of course. One of the first things the Explorer's Brigade had discovered eight months ago was that the island had a self-contained, pressurized atmosphere that ran comfortably around it and thus it protected anyone walking on its surface. Getting there was the challenging part.

"Three minutes," the pilot said into the headphones. "Sir Calador, are you a hundred percent sure you don't want a parachute?"

"Not going to need it," he replied. "I can't be hurt by big falls. As long as I can breathe, I'm good to go."

"If you say so."

As the moment finally approached, Zach leaned forward and took Grundor's hand. "You've been my best friend for almost a year. Thanks for everything, Grund."

"Always, buddy. Please find Master. I know he's alive out there somewhere."

"I will. I promise. Good news or bad, I won't return until I know what happened to him and the others."

Grundor nodded. And then Zach nodded, too. And with that, Grundor got up and headed back into the interior of the aircraft as the rear ramp began to lower, causing a massive blast of freezing-cold wind to cover Zach from head to toe. Even if it had not been the middle of winter, it would still be insanely chilly this high up. His teeth began chattering, and he shivered. He was so Gods-be-damned cold.

It was time to jump.