Stumbling Up: A Loser's Guide to Progression - Chapter 65: Cracks

Richard moved forward, scrunching down as though stalking prey. I scanned the scene, identifying nothing edible by his standards. Just some dusty sage, red dirt, and a couple of cacti. Nothing vegetative that he preferred.

My yellow companion slowly inched forward, antennae stretched in front of him, as though sniffing the air. Slowly his butt lifted, wiggling like a cat's.

"Are you sure --- Meredeath's death ray --- aimed --- Ash?" Leo asked so quietly I only caught a few words with my inattention.

What had he said? Meredeath aimed her death ray at Ash? That couldn't be right.

He probably meant [Death Bolt], the skill she’d earned trying to throw her knives at carnivorous prairie dogs on the trip here.

I held up a finger, asking Leo to give me a second. Glancing back at Richard, I found him several feet away from his former location. He was smothering what looked to be a small lizard.

“You eat meat?”

What do you think the fangs are for?

“Sorry, what was that?” I asked Leo. “A [Death Bolt]?”

Richard lifted his head. One small lizard leg dangled from his mouth.

Leo shushed me, drawing us away from the team. He kept his voice low, which I now realize wasn't because he didn't want to interrupt Richard's hunt. "Are you sure they should come with us? I mean, Meredeath's [Death Bolt] is useful, but what if she accidentally aims it at one of us? And Ash? He's just weird." This time, his head bobbed over to Ash and Meredeath, who seemed intent on their own morning.

Ash bent down, examining a small white wildflower blooming in the shadow of a rock. He looked like a kid, full of wonder and innocence.

I doubted my decision plenty after I brought Ash back to camp, but I felt like I owed him after he helped save Richard. Plus, his powers were cool. And I wasn’t sure anyone would believe my story if I didn’t have a witness.

Ash plucked the flower, standing up. Meredeath leaned in, listening to him explain some property of the herb as it zipped into his inventory. He had one of those dimensional storages I’d been eyeing. How he afforded one, I didn’t know.

I knew I was more than a little jealous of how Meredeath and Ash hit it off.

I looked at Leo. "I'm not sure of anything, but Meredeath's pulled us out of the fire more than once... and if she vouches for Ash..."

I didn't finish the sentence. I didn't need to. Leo might be able to solo a minor boss, but Tandy and I were still pretty underpowered. Even if I had survived a few tough moments.

Meredeath was our highest damage dealer. I suspected that while Ash wasn't a killer outright, he still had some major tricks up his sleeve. If he could magnify Meredeath’s output, maybe we wouldn’t be completely useless in this Hunt.

The camp had gotten overrun by fancy nobles and [Adventurers] with magical armor and the spending power of a treasury. We looked like kids playing dress-up by comparison.

He sighed. "If she vouches for Ash, I suppose we've got to take him." Leo looked at me, his eyes hardening in a way I hadn't seen. "You need practice. Start taking this seriously. If we're going to reach our full potential, if we're going to make it as a team, you're going to have to progress."

I’d been fairly miserable in the dry heat of the desert. My weakness against heat and intolerance of dry environments combined to make the Ceaparean Drift nightmare fuel. I had a canteen dedicated to wetting my bandana.

"I am progressing, just not in the Leo Smash way that you are." He just had to hit things to practice, to progress. He’d picked up six different axe-attack skills on our trip to the Drift.

The inherent defensiveness that I'd carried my whole life, as I'd never progressed in the ‘right way’. With the [Dead Wrong] class, I just couldn’t manage to progress anything normal like my hammer skills. No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't pick up hammer skills or basic fighting. My build was more decoy than damage like some weird utility player.

The new [Mercy] skills I’d picked up just didn’t pack a punch. Like [Heart]. I wasn’t going to hug a dungeon boss into submission. No one got far as an [Adventurer] by talking out their feelings.

The only skill I’d picked up on our journey to the hunt was [Feign Death]. I received that skill during a desperate attempt to avoid [Cheat Death] when a normal bear wandered into our campsite.

Leo's hand came down on my slug-free shoulder, squeezing in a gesture I’m sure was meant to be reassuring. I had to hold back a wince as several points ticked off my health bar. He’d gotten strong. Or maybe my [Gelatinous] nature was getting the best of me.

“Hey, sorry,” Leo said. “I know you're working as hard as anyone. If Ash is coming with us, we might as well get started.”

I raised my head as he let go, missing his expression as he walked away. His new white and gold embossed armor shone in the sun.

You've all come a long way since we met in that dank forest.

I shook my head at Richard's comment. Leo'd come a long way. I watched as Tandy smiled, talking to Meredeath. Tandy was on the verge of a breakthrough. And, as long as Meredeath didn’t start raising undead, her ability to kill things was unparalleled. If she showed [Necromancer], the entire Adventurer’s Guild would hunt her down.

Leo leaned in since we’d started toward the Hunt. He’d embraced the "level up" life, and as a “common” [Warrior] he had a lot of options.

"I'm not moving as fast as others," I said, and I knew my words sounded resentful. I let out a long sigh.

Progress isn't always measured by a number going up. Power isn't always at the end of a hammer. You need a slug's perspective. Thankfully, you have me.

I closed my eyes, feeling the heat of the sun on my face. We were a long way from the dark, dank coastal mountains of the Hellentic Forest.

I'd traded the stench of the kitchen compost for the guts of the latest monster. Linchpin of the team, I was not. But even I had to admit I'd come a long way for a part-time line cook slash dishwasher. I let the breath I'd subconsciously held go, willing my shoulders to drop and my back to unclench. [Self Critic] let go.

"I’m going to be an Everbear-damned [Master of Death]." The words were more for me than Richard, but I still waited for a snarky reply. Something like 'a lot of good it's done you' or 'whatever that means.' His biting rejoinder never came, so I finished the statement myself. "Good at dying, less at dealing."

I walked towards my team, ready for what was to come.

"I still don't have the Raid Quest. Can you share it across?" Meredeath asked. She looked out of place in the desert. The sunlight sank into her dark clothes as though swallowed by a vortex.

"I've got it." Leo shared the quest out to our party. "I must say, I'm excited to try out my new class."

[Raid Quest: Legendary Hunt - Welcome to the Hunt! You have been given access to the [Legendary Monster Quest Chain]. The Ceaparean Drift Canyonlands has three Legendary Creatures in residence. Take part in the destruction of a creature to earn loot, decrease the monster’s hold on the civilized world, and progress. You have discovered 1/3+1 Legendary Creatures. Your party has killed 0/3 Legendary Creatures. Your party has killed 1/? creatures. Battle on!]

When the notification had first triggered, I'd reread it. I'd discovered [1/3] Legendary Creatures? Then I remembered the [King of the River]. The beauty of his scales glistening in the sun, I gave Ash a furtive glance. He'd gone a shade paler, too.

I had the sinking feeling that [Legendary Hunt] directly conflicted with my hidden quest chain [Mercy Ledger: Beasts].

"Leo, did you say you picked up a new class?" Tandy asked in a distracted tone, which meant she was probably reading the quest notification pop-up. I watched as she waved the notification away, eyes focused on Leo.

He grinned. His curly blond hair shimmered in the morning light. "I sure did. They had class trainers in the camp—"

"And you didn't tell us?" Tandy interrupted, muttering under her breath. "Of course he didn't."

"Uh, sorry?"

I shook my head. We joked that there wasn't enough gray matter to bother a Nirantian brain sucker between Leo's ears. Tandy waved at him to continue, so he did, digging his grave deeper.

"There were trainers, so I thought there might be something more helpful than [Warrior]. I was right!”

Oh no. Those aren’t [Trainers], they’re [Recruiters].

We all stood there, sweating as the sun rose higher in the morning sky, waiting for Leo to tell us what his new class was. He waited with a shit-eating grin for someone to ask.

"Out with it." Meredeath, per usual, was the first to lose her temper and ask. "What's the new class?"

"I'm a [Paladin]. Technically, a [Paladin of the Hunt]. My inspiration is [The Huntress]."

Oh, fuck, not that bitch.

Tandy and I looked at each other. [Paladins] were driven by the gods, their inspiration and patron being the source of much misadventure for the heroes in stories. The path of the [Paladin] was one of incredible legends or, more likely, an untimely death.

Leo'd only ever been interested in happy endings. He never calculated the cost.

I spoke up. "Leo, did you not think to question the granting of the class?" The words sounded like Tandy's, but my guilt gnawed at me as I thought of my own hidden quest chain [Mercy Ledger: Beasts].

He turned to me, eyes flaring defensively. "The class will help us on the [Raid]. You both act as if I can't wipe my nose without permission. I’m taking my progression into my own hands. Not all of us are a [Sage] or have a slug at the reins."

My eyes flickered over to Tandy's. We’d both hoped the gap between us and Leo had been shrinking. His mood had improved since we left Eddie’s Mill.

Instead, it seemed as though the rift had silently expanded. The cracking of our bond had continued beneath the surface, just out of mind.

That was partially our doing. Neither of us had really given Leo enough credit to think about this on his own. And my own [The Mercy Ledger: Beasts] [Hidden] quest had widened the cracks.

Meredeath and my insistence on adding Ash to the party hadn’t helped.

My [Heart] ached in my chest. There was plenty of blame to spread around for this fracture.

“You're right. I'm sure it'll be a boon to us all. I just wish…” What did I really wish for? Here we were on a [Raid] together as [Adventurers]. Our wildest dreams come true. Except it wasn’t.

I still felt like the underpowered loser I’d been back in Woodsten. I couldn’t fault Leo for feeling the same way. Being [Adventurers] was messy and complicated. It had solved none of our actual problems.

Trying to save face, I finished the sentence in a way that Leo would understand. "I just wish I'd thought of that. It's a cool class. I’m happy for you."

The words hung between us awkwardly, so I held out my hand to shake.

Leo's frown slowly turned into a grin.

"Sorry, man. Next time, you'll have to come along!" He clasped my hand and drew me into a hug. He smelled of desert pinions and sage.

My eyes caught Tandy's, and she raised one eyebrow in a question. I gave a quick, negative headshake. Now wasn't the time. I was committed to the lie, anything to save our trio.

Can we get this over with? Richard asked, sunbathing on a red rock.

Leo released me from his bear hug, all sins forgiven, all smiles as he was the first on the trail. Tandy followed as I bent down to retrieve the sunbaked Richard.

I watched as Meredeath and Ash gave each other indiscernible look. Cracks ran across the sunbaked land, as I tightened the water-soaked bandana around my neck.