The Pinnacle Warrior

Astrid woke with a start, worried that she’d slept too long and opened herself and her party up to attacks. Without thinking, her armor reappeared on her as she threw the blankets off and rose to her feet. Before she’d even blinked the sleep from her eyes, an unfamiliar weight settled into her right hand, pulling heavily and making her readjust her stance.

At that, she came more to herself and looked around herself. She stood in an unfamiliar room, but now that she wasn’t running off of pure adrenaline and instinct, she quickly put together what had happened. She wasn’t in the Dungeon; she was in an inn, and she could sleep as much as she wanted. With a thought, she dismissed her armor, grateful for it as the buckles stopped pinching at her hips and neck, places normally covered by her gambeson, but currently exposed directly to the metal, as she wasn’t sleeping in her protective clothing.

Once she stood just in her nightclothes and could relax, Astrid allowed herself a yawn and a stretch and felt more comfortable than she had in a long time. More than that, she was so well rested…

“How long was I asleep?” she wondered out loud as she wandered to the door. Pulling it open, she still couldn’t see anything, as her room had no windows, and neither did the hallway. Once she made her way downstairs, though, she was greeted by the light of a fully risen sun, mid-morning having already come and gone.

“How is it that she’s the only one who was able to get herself to sleep in?” Benedict grumbled from where he sat at a table. There were no plates there, just a couple of cups that, going off of the smell, contained a mulled cider. Benedict, Skandr, Muti, and Felix all sat at the table, having evidently been talking to each other for a while before she appeared.

Astrid glanced down at her revealing clothing and considered going to get changed, but decided against it with a grunt. Instead, she wandered over and got herself into the chair as a golem appeared.

“It wants to know if you’re ready to eat,” Benedict said as Astrid glanced up at it. She nodded for it to go ahead and collect whatever it was going to get as she looked at the rest of her party.

“How long have you all been down here?” she asked as she watched the golem walk to the kitchen.

“I was the first one to wake up,” Benedict was the first to speak, his expression more than just sour, “so I’ve been waiting around down here for all of you to show up for probably two hours.”

“And we got up maybe an hour ago,” Felix said, looking at the others. “We are basically ready to get going once you are.”

Astrid nodded slowly, seeing that the golem hadn’t come yet, and then she felt a twist in her stomach as she realized there was a conversation that most of them needed to have. Instead of waiting around, she nodded and decided to jump right into it.

“I’m glad everybody got some sleep. For now, I think there’s a conversation that needs to be had, and Benedict, I don’t think you should be a part of it.”

He squinted at her, seemingly thinking it was a joke at first before he put it together and his mouth hung open a little bit. “You haven’t had the time to talk about what you’re going to do with me wanting to leave. We’ve been so busy since I dropped that on you. Now is the first real time in a while that we could have spoken.”

“Yes,” she answered simply. “Benedict, you’re a friend, one of my four best friends in the world. You’re great to have in the party, and I want you to stick around. However, you’ve made it pretty clear that you don’t want to be here forever. None of the rest of us have had a super strong conversation about that, as well as what to do if we find somebody who wants to join us before that point. Or if you decide you want to stay here instead of returning back home. As far as we can tell, and correct me if I’m wrong, you’re looking for an out. Possibly the sooner, the better. If that’s the case, we need to be ready as well.”

“Yeah,” he nodded curtly. “You know, I don’t think I understood how much that would hurt. Sorry for doing it to all of you. Let me know when you’re ready.”

He didn’t say another word as he stood up, nodded again, and walked back upstairs toward his room.

“That seems kind of cruel,” Skandr was the first to speak. “Just deliberately excluding him?”

“I’ve been excluded a whole lot since I was a kid,” Astrid shook her head, though her stomach hadn’t stopped twisting. “Kids saying they don’t want to play with me because their parents say I’ve got Barbarian blood hurt less than the ones who would decide it was time to stop playing and go home the second I showed up. Still hurts, but I always preferred the ones who just never gave me hope.”

“Kids really did that to you?” Skandr asked. “You were born in your hometown, weren’t you? They knew who you were.”

“Yes,” Astrid shrugged. “Anyways, I want to know what you all think. We haven’t really talked about this since he said it however many weeks ago.”

“I don’t want to kick him out early,” Felix answered first. “First, he’s a close friend, and I want to have him around. Second and more practically, we don’t have anybody who can purge negative statuses, like the poison from the wyvern that helped you just yesterday, Astrid.”

“Technically two days ago, but I get your point,” Skandr shrugged. “I don’t like the idea of kicking him out either.”

“I’m pretty confident in saying that none of us want to kick him out,” Astrid said, looking at Muti for agreement. She nodded slowly, none of her usual teasing present in her demeanor. “That said, we also need to make sure that we are not going to be putting ourselves in a worse situation because we like him. I think we need to remember that if we want to go further than he does, we will eventually need to find a replacement. And if that opportunity presents itself before he’s ready, we need to choose between keeping him comfortable and maintaining our own progress.”

A silence settled over them at that, and Astrid thought that they were all considering their options when the two human men both looked at each other. Then Skandr met her eyes.

“Astrid,” he asked, “I don’t know, and Felix agrees with me, if we want to push so hard all the way to Arcanite.”

Her heart basically stopped as the Wizard spoke. He obviously took note of this as he raised his hands and attempted to explain further. “I just don’t think I want to be pushing this hard for a whole lot longer. It’s been years, Astrid, and this is the closest thing to a vacation that we’ve gotten that entire time. I think that the ideal of reaching Arcanite is great, and I am along for the ride. However, I would like to sleep in a bed more than once a year. I think that some days shouldn’t be consumed with either training or fighting. Muti has said she wants kids. Everybody knows that the way you get a mutated, malformed, or stillborn child is by having the mother go into the Dungeon while she’s pregnant. I don’t know how long a Barbarian’s pregnancy is, but that’s a long time that she would have to take outside of the Dungeon, unless there’s some way to circumvent that. Even then, I don’t think I want a pregnant woman jumping around and fighting dragons. Maybe I’m weird for that, but I think it’s a pretty regular, reasonable thought to have.”

Astrid raised a hand and cut him off, saying, “You’re rambling. Before I let myself feel everything I’m feeling right now, let me clarify: you would like to take more breaks, not leave the party?”

“Yes,” he nodded. “I want to have a Wizard’s tower. I think that I could do a lot of good by getting strong enough to not let other people tell me what to do, and then teach interested kids how to use magic for free. Give them a better start than I had.”

“And if Muti and I have children,” Felix said, “I will be there for their childhood.”

Astrid nodded slowly as she looked at Muti. “And you?”

“I will follow you, leader,” Muti nodded. “When the time comes that the creation of a new Horde has begun, then I may take my leave, to return to your side with your permission.”

With several calming breaths, Astrid nodded. “Correct me if I’m wrong. You all want to continue delving, unlike Benedict, but like Benedict, this won’t be your life.”

“Yes,” Skandr nodded slowly. “Are you saying that you want to just be a delver?”

“What I’ve always said,” Astrid said calmly and softly, “is that I want to be a hero that can protect people from their enemies. The meaning of people in my mind has expanded over the past years to stretch beyond merely the borders of Humanity’s Bulwark, but yes. Any other thing to do is something that would be fun. Yes, I would like to experience a romance, to have a lover or two. I want to maybe have children. But honestly, all of that comes after what I’ve always wanted to be, and if I need to make the choice, I’ll still choose to be a delver.”

“That sounds really lonely,” Skandr said quietly, and his words broke something in Astrid’s chest.

“But you all said you would be with me. It wouldn’t have been lonely. It would’ve been hard, but it would’ve been worth it. And that isn’t worth it to you? Did you think I was lying when I said that’s what I wanted to do when we first started delving together? I have never hidden the fact that I want to become Arcanite, and you were all willing to come along with me, right? Look at what we have done already. All of us can get there if we work hard at it, so why would we throw it away?.”

“And I think we will make it that far,” Skandr argued back. “But I don’t think that it’s a problem if that takes twenty years instead of ten. Or even thirty. We’re all Steel tier before we’re thirty. That’s unheard of for most people. Going off of our plans, we’ll be at least mid Steel before we’re thirty, if not all the way at the peak of Steel tier before we are thirty. Mithril tiers who are that young? I’ve never heard a single story about somebody who can do that. And you’re saying that getting to that point, reaching level 90, you won’t be able to take even a year to just slow down? You don’t need to stop, but why can’t you take some time and be a Human instead of just a hero?”

Astrid worried at her lip for a moment, chewing on the skin there until she could taste blood.

“Maybe I can slow down,” she admitted after maybe a minute of painful silence. “But I don’t really want to. Why would I take a decade to do what I can do in five years?”

“Because there’s more things to life than just becoming the strongest,” Skandr said, his voice soft as he pulled one of her hands in both of his own, “and you can still do that if you allow yourself to slow down a little bit.”

Astrid nodded once. “I guess we’ve talked about it. If there’s anything that anybody else wants to say, now is the time.”

“I don’t think we’re really done with the conversation,” Skandr protested.

“What else is there to say?” Astrid asked, her voice soft.

“That we love you,” he countered. “That I don’t want you to just become a figurehead without a person behind it. In less than five years, you’ve become stronger than your father, who you’ve looked up to your whole life. You’re probably pretty close to having as many attributes as your mother, and every level that you gain will close that distance very quickly.”

“And you all have been wonderful friends,” Astrid shrugged. “I just wonder at what point who I am and what I want to be will begin to break the bonds that have kept us together until now.”

“I disagree,” Muti said, her voice firm. “You have guided me on a path that allows me a freedom I did not know could exist. That bond will not break.”

“No, it won’t.” Astrid nodded, feeling an eerie sense of calm settle over her instead of the petulant tantrum that she felt when her initial hopeful party died before it left home. “But if I’m ten, fifteen levels higher than you? I already gain six more attribute points than you at every level. Where we are now, that counts for a small difference in how many attribute points I have compared to you all. Each level from now on is huge.

“And that’s discounting the difference in levels, because at that point, I’ll be an entire watershed above you. Then I’ll have achievements different from you, and I’ll be offered different Classes, probably of higher rarities than you. And that distance will continue to spread. So while we all continue to be friends,” Astrid said, getting to the crux of her argument and feeling her voice crack, “I will be alone. And you won’t be the Wanderers anymore. Or maybe I won’t.”

Tears threatened at the corners of Astrid’s eyes, but she kept them unshed. Instead, she just asked again, “Is there anything else anybody wants to say?”

“I disagree,” Skandr said, his voice calm. “I will always consider myself and you as members of the Wanderers. Plus, I’m the only one of us who can get experience by studying. I’m going to bet I can keep up with you just by building a Wizard tower. Plenty of experience to be found there.”

As he said it, he squeezed her hand as hard as he could, his eyes meeting hers fiercely as he promised, “I’m sticking around. I do want you to slow down, though. I think you’ll be happier if you do. If you refuse, I’ll still be around, and I’ll make sure I keep up.”

Astrid allowed herself a little smile, nodded, and looked at the other two. “Anything else from you?”

Felix shook his head as Muti declared, “I will also remain your companion.”

Instead of the abandonment that she had felt at the hands of Liesl and Borus, Astrid thought that there might be a way through this and allowed herself a smile at last. “We didn’t talk at all about what we’re actually going to do about Benedict, though.”

“Huh,” Skandr said, scratching at the beginnings of a beard coming through. “I guess you’re right. Honestly, I think we should talk to him about it, but I don’t think that he’s opposed to pushing hard for at least a while longer. I think we all have a fire lit under us about the dangers that going home proved to us, and I think we all consider, with the exception of Muti, home to be the Bulwark.”

“So keep pushing for now and hope that we find somebody else eventually?” Astrid asked.

The rest nodded, and she shook her head. “This could’ve been a thirty second conversation, and instead you’ve got me crying. Now somebody go get Benedict. It’s time for me to test out this new hammer already.”

Muti grinned widely, her sharp teeth shining in the light as she stood, exploded in a puff of darkness, and was gone.

“She’s just as excited as you are,” Felix laughed, and the rest of the party started getting themselves ready to go.

***

Back in the wyvern’s nest, the party didn’t worry about clearing out the floors for now. Instead, having discussed together, they were going to stick around in the wyvern nest for a while longer to reap the benefits of triple experience from the irregular wyvern. In the time since they’d been hunting, the first floor had largely replenished its numbers, and they couldn’t make it very far before it was time to fight.

“As long as it comes down here,” Astrid said, “it’s mine.”

Muti started to complain, but she was stopped by Felix, and with the rest of the party, it was finally time to test out their new weapons.