Zack ignored the eavesdropping maids, knights in armor, men in training tunics, and a number of men wearing grey robes lurking around the edge of the courtyard.

  He stood tall and looked directly at Rosimund, the Knight Captain and [Guide] of the [Hero’s Party]. They were nearly matched in height, though Rosimund was significantly more bulky.

  “Last night, Maria there came to my room and assaulted me with some kind of magic spell.”

  “That’s [Priestess] Maria to you, [Otherworlder]!” she interjected.

  Rosimund frowned, all confusion and uncertainty draining from his expression. He turned to her, and said, “[Priestess]? Is this true?”

  “I was putting this [Otherworlder] on notice!”

  Bradley looked askance at Maria.

  Rosimund turned back to Zack, all seriousness. “And what spell was this?”

  “[Turn Undead].”

  One of the eavesdropping knights snorted, and another cuffed him over the head.

  Rosimund relaxed and sighed.

  “Zack Adder, that’s hardly assault. That miracle has no effect on the living. Please, be at ease.”

  He seemed dismissive of Zack’s complaint, but then he turned once more to Maria.

  “[Priestess] Maria, Zack Adder is a member of the [Hero’s Party], at the behest of the Goddess herself. You should know this better than anyone, [Oracle].”

  “But!”

  “But what? You thought the Goddess ordered us to let an undead enter into the [Hero’s Party]?” He raised an eyebrow while maintaining his stern expression. “No, and you had no business in Zack Adder’s bedroom that couldn’t have waited until today. As the [Guide], I’m putting my foot down. For both of you.” He turned to look at Zack as well. “If either of you have a problem, you bring it to me. I won’t have infighting in the [Party] interfering with the [Hero’s] mission.”

  Maria was dumbfounded, mouth agape.

  She found her voice. “I am the [Oracle]—”

  “And I am the [Guide],” Rosimund cut her off with a steely tone. They glared at each other, but it was Maria who broke first. She turned away and huffed audibly, folding her arms petulantly.

  “Zack Adder. Come to me with such problems in the future. But I will ask that you forgive the [Priestess] in this instance, and let it be as water under the bridge. She has a crucial role within the [Hero’s Party], both as an [Oracle] and more directly as our healer. She will certainly save your life in the days to come.”

  “Hmph!”

  Zack narrowed his eyes, glancing at the childish priestess.

  It was then that the [Hero], Bradley Northcourt, intervened.

  “C’mon, Zack, lighten up. You too, Maria. No harm, no foul, alright?”

  Maria remained turned away, but Zack inhaled and nodded.

  “Fine. Water under the bridge, then.”

  “There ya go!”

  “Very good, Zack Adder.”

  “Please, call me Zack, [Guide] Rosimund.”

  Rosimund nodded. “Very well, Zack. You may also dispense with the title of [Guide] and refer to me simply as Sir Rosimund.”

  Zack had not forgotten that this was the man who had put a sword to his throat just the evening prior, but he nodded.

  “Sure.”

  “Now then,” Rosimund said, “getting back on track. The [Demon King].”

  “Didn’t we already talk about that though?” Bradley said, tilting his head.

  “When was this?” Zack asked.

  Last night he had been ushered straight to his room, and other than the Priestess’ intrusion, he had been left alone. This morning he had been woken and immediately escorted to training, with only the slightest diversion for clothing.

  He certainly hadn’t been served a proper breakfast.

  “This morning—”

  “Sir [Hero],” Rosimund interrupted, “please, wait a moment.”

  Bradley covered his hand with his mouth. “Oops.”

  Zack cocked an eyebrow and Rosimund sighed.

  “Zack. We are in a war against the [Demon King] and his army. Please understand, we have to keep information as strictly controlled as possible, so that the [Demon King]’s spies do not learn our plans and undermine them.”

  Information control.

  “The [Hero] obviously needs to know all the plans, as he will be leading our forces against the [Demon King]. He also has the [Strategist] and [Tactician] skills.”

  Zack ensured his expression reflected open neutrality and nodded.

  “The [Priestess] Maria is our direct line to the Goddess, and she represents the Church. Her loyalty is beyond any doubt.”

  Another nod, though he felt the muscles in his face stiffen.

  “And I represent the Kingdom of Forti, and liaise between the [Hero’s Party] and the Kingdom’s armies.”

  Zack glanced at Bradley but he merely shrugged.

  “But you, Zack Adder, are a mystery. An unknown element. Surely you can understand why we couldn’t include you in our detailed planning meetings, right?”

  Basically, Rosimund was telling Zack that he lacked security clearance.

  Typical.

  Some things are the same the worlds over.

  But…

  Just to confirm this was a policy, and not harassment from a certain [Priestess], Zack asked, “So, what about other members of the [Hero’s Party]? Are we all just not going to know what’s going on?”

  At this…

  Rosimund smiled.

  Just a little bit. But the corners of his mouth tugged up under his bushy mustache.

  “That is correct, Zack. We expect various experts to join and depart the [Hero’s Party] as needed, especially during the search for the Holy Sword [Excalibur]. There will necessarily be some level of secrecy between us three, as the core party members, and the rest of the party.”

  Zack folded his arm and tilted his head back, humming. “Hmmm, I guess that makes sense.”

  He could afford to be a little flexible here, temporarily. It wouldn’t do to make complaints about every little thing right from the start.

  “Thank you for your understanding. Now, the [Demon King].”

  The [Priestess] and [Hero] stood noticeably straighter, paying full attention.

  “We did talk about this a little bit this morning, but I’ll recap. Sir Northcourt, please do not spread any information around without talking to me about it, first.”

  Bradley’s face flushed, but he nodded.

  Maria covered her mouth with one hand and giggled gently.

  Zack forced himself not to roll his eyes.

  The [Guide] gestured them all closer, and looked around to check if anyone was close enough to overhear. Zack looked around as well, and…

  *ding!* The skill [Private Conversation] has been acquired!

  Zack Adder found that he had a sense now, somehow, that everyone around was out of earshot, if they kept their voices down.

  Sir Rosimund continued. “Our mission, as the [Hero’s Party], is to defeat the [Demon King]. He commands an army of demons and monsters, and has four Lieutenants that do his bidding. The Church and the Kingdom are still investigating to learn their identities. In the meantime, our more immediate goals are to gather allies, increase our strength, and find the Holy Sword [Excalibur].”

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  “Cool, right?!” Bradley couldn’t hold his excitement back. “[Excalibur]! The legendary sword!”

  Rosimund and Maria both looked confused at his outburst.

  “We had a legendary sword called Excalibur in our world, too,” Zack offered.

  “Really? Fascinating,” Rosimund said.

  “That’s amazing!” Maria said, pressing herself up against Bradley’s arm and gazing up into his eyes. Though, he was wearing plate mail, so he couldn’t feel her body directly.

  “Well, it was just a legend, though. The sword in the stone…” Bradley was blushing again, and didn’t know where to look.

  Rosimund coughed pointedly. “Anyway, Church scholars are reviewing the archives for clues as to its whereabouts. So, while we wait for the research to conclude, we are going to focus on training the [Hero].”

  He paused a second.

  “And Zack.”

  An afterthought.

  “I’m already level ten!” Maria said, puffing out her chest with her hands on her hips, looking down her nose at Zack. The former secret agent recalled her casual dismissal of his threat the night before.

  “And I’m level forty. You still have a long way to go, [Priestess],” Rosimund retorted, and Maria squawked with outrage.

  “They said that since I already have so many skills, they’re going to focus on raising those skill levels, for the most part, rather than learning new skills. Other than [Heavy Armor], anyway.” Bradley spread his arms, showing off the plate mail armor he was wearing.

  “Mmm, [Heavy Armor] will be crucial for when you’re fighting on the front lines,” said Rosimund.

  “And if you get hurt even wearing all that armor, I’ll heal you right away!” Maria started clinging to Bradley’s arm again.

  “As for you, Zack, your [Potentials] indicate that you would be well-suited for a [Mage] position, but…” Rosimund trailed off. Maria shot him a dirty look when she thought Bradley wouldn’t notice.

  “But what? Magic sounds interesting,” Zack said.

  Indeed. He was in another world after all. It’d be a shame to get a second shot at life and not explore magic.

  “Yeah! You could be the party’s wizard or something!” Bradley said.

  Zack twitched abruptly, but before he could investigate why...

  “STOP!”

  “Stop stop stop!” Rosimund and Maria shouted immediately, cutting off Bradley.

  “Don’t say that word! Ever!”

  “Heresy! Blasphemy! O holy Goddess, please forgive us your servants for our transgressions…”

  Maria fell to her knees, pulling Bradley down with her, and started praying.

  Zack saw that throughout the training yard, other knights were also falling to their knees and praying.

  But not all of them prayed the same. Universally, they all closed their eyes. But some genuflected, coming down on one knee, while others knelt fully on both knees. Some made strange hand gestures. But the majority matched the grey-robed priests around the edge, crossing their arms across their chests and tilting their heads forward in prayer.

  Initial estimate: at least four different anomalous spontaneous reactions.

  As Zack had expected, the place appeared to be riddled with spies and secret agents.

  Rosimund’s face was flushed red again.

  His blood pressure must be sky high.

  “[Hero], Sir Northcourt, please never use that word! It is a most foul word, and draws unwanted attention.”

  Zack looked around once more, but he didn’t even notice any divine eyeballs looking at them.

  Some kind of superstition?

  Rosimund rounded on Zack next, but Zack immediately put his hands up.

  “I’m not gonna say it.”

  “Good. If you must discuss… them, say ‘the W-word,’ or ‘they who must not be named,’ but even then, it’s better if you don’t as much as possible.”

  “Right…”

  The [Priestess] was actually glowing, and so was Bradley, so Zack didn’t interrupt.

  Eventually, they both stood up, Bradley looking suitably chastened.

  “Alright, alright! I won’t say the W-word anymore. Geez…”

  “Where were we?” Rosimund asked, using a handkerchief to wipe some sweat from his forehead.

  “I said I’d be willing to be the party’s [Mage],” Zack answered quickly, cutting off Maria who had opened her mouth.

  She glared at him.

  “Oh, yes, right. Well, you do have very good [Potentials] for that, with Growth Rates of ‘A’ in Intelligence and Willpower…”

  Once again, Zack’s personal information was being shared willy-nilly.

  Information control, huh?

  “...But you lack the crucial skills [Magic Perception] and [Magic Control].”

  “You can’t do any magic without those skills,” Maria said snidely.

  “And, yes, we’re aware of your unique skill,” Rosimund continued, ignoring the [Priestess], “but those skills are notoriously difficult to learn.”

  He went on to explain that even good students trying to learn the skills from scratch took years of study and practice, and that even cutting that time in half, there simply wasn’t time for a member of the [Hero’s Party] to devote to that.

  Most people in the world who went on to become mages were born with both skills, or they were born with one or the other, and then studied to learn the second. Roughly one in five hundred people had one of the skills from birth, and one in 25,000 had both: such fortunate people developed an affinity in their teens, and then went on to study at a Magic Academy.

  “Most combat magic is elemental,” Rosimund explained. “And you either need a very strong understanding of the spell you’re trying to cast, or you need an elemental affinity to bridge the gap. Normally it’s not a skill, but Sir Northcourt has the [Universal Affinity] skill, which will enable him to cast any kind of elemental magic.”

  “So basically, Mister Former Sorcerer, you don’t have the skills, and you don’t have any affinity, so you’re not doing any magic any time soon!” Maria gloated.

  Bradley and Rosimund both did a double take.

  “Whoa, dude! You were a sorcerer back on Earth?!”

  “What?!”

  Zack sighed and covered his face with his hand. “No,” he said, putting all his exasperation into his voice. “I wasn’t a sorcerer. I studied IT.”

  “Aye Tea?” Rosimund repeated.

  “Information technology. Network administration, database management, cybersecurity, that kind of stuff.”

  “Sorcery!” Maria declared, pointing.

  Bradley chuckled. “Nah, it just means Zack was a nerd.”

  “Nerd, huh?”

  A vein on Zack’s forehead bulged.

  “I studied martial arts, too,” he retorted.

  “Oh my god! Karate? Definitely a nerd!” Bradley laughed.

  Zack lowered his center of gravity and widened his stance, then gave a “come on” gesture with his fingers. “Want to have a go?”

  “You can’t possibly think you can take on the [Hero]!” Maria shouted, drawing the attention of all the other knights in the courtyard. “He has ‘S’ Potential in almost every stat! Your stats are mediocre, and you have no skills!”

  Even Bradley laughed, though more nervously now. “Hang on, dude. You don’t have any skills for fighting. I don’t want to, like, hurt you or anything.”

  Zack grinned, revealing his teeth. “Scared you’ll lose?”

  Murmurs rose up among the knights.

  “The [Hero]’s going to spar?”

  “With that other [Otherworlder]?”

  “Five to one the [Hero] wins.”

  “Fool’s odds, there’s no chance the [Hero] loses.”

  Rosimund, on the other hand, frowned, clearly thinking.

  “No, this may be a good idea,” he said.

  “Hahh?!” Maria’s jaw dropped.

  “It’ll be good for the [Hero], and if he gets injured, you can just heal him, right?”

  “Of course!” she huffed.

  “And we can see what Zack can do at the same time. It’s a win-win.” He folded his arms and nodded to himself.

  Bradley frowned at Zack. “I was getting scouted for college ball, you know? Don’t complain to me if you get hurt.”

  Zack maintained his grin. “What? You really think you got a chance?”

  This time, his provocation landed.

  “Hey, Maria,” Bradley said, maintaining eye contact with the other Earthling. “You’ll be able to heal Zack back up, right?”

  “Ugh, do I have to?” Maria groaned.

  “Yes, you do,” Rosimund said insistently, glaring at her.

  “Fiiiine.” She clearly didn’t want to.

  The knights around the courtyard were walking over to get a better look.

  “Alright,” Rosimund said loudly, announcing. “The [Hero] and the [Otherworlder] will spar!”

  And Zack struck.

  He dashed in, unannounced, with a shoulder tackle straight to the [Hero]’s armored torso, and with deft footwork got one foot behind the [Hero]’s ankle.

  A little grab and twist, and Bradley fell to the ground with a crash, one arm pinned under his own chest while the other was yanked behind his back.

  “Kyaaah!”

  Maria, untouched, lost her balance and fell on her rear.

  Zack frowned.

  The armor prevented him from pulling Bradley’s arm back far enough to dislocate it, but it was clear within seconds that [Hero] was pinned.

  “Agh! Hey, what the hell, man!”

  “Yield.”

  Zack’s voice was like a cold stone pressing down on the other man.

  “Hnnggg, damn this heavy armor!”

  “Come on, yield already.” Levity made its way into Zack’s tone as he grinned.

  “Ugh, fine, you got me.”

  Immediately Zack got up, to see Rosimund sputtering and all the other knights standing around with their jaws hanging open.

  Bradley had to crawl up onto his hands and knees, and ultimately another knight dashed in to help him to stand under the weight of all his armor.

  “That was pretty cheap, man,” Bradley grumbled.

  “A win is a win,” Zack replied smugly.

  Rosimund continued sputtering, and Maria, having stood up again, stormed up to Zack and poked in him the chest. “That was entirely without honor! How could you do that?! He’s the [Hero]!”

  Zack merely looked down his nose at her. “He was wearing full armor, and he’s the [Hero], and he has more skills, and he has more [Potential], and I still beat him.”

  “But you cheated!”

  “Oh, cheating, huh?”

  The two glared at each other.

  Rosimund finally found his voice.

  “Th-that’s not a proper spar! We have to set some ground rules!”

  “Fine with me. I don’t mind another round.”

  Time to remember some of the basics of CQC.