Chapter 46

They continued walking down the path where they met the monster. He wished he could use his insight skill, but since he’d used it the day before, it was still on cooldown. They’d just have to trust their ears on this one.

The beige corridor continued, and widened into another, smaller room than they’d arrived in, and Leon paused, holding his arm out to stop the others. A soft buzzing came from the middle of the room, where two level eight grasshoppers hovered a foot above the floor. As if they smelled them, they came closer, then landed on the ground, swinging their heads from side to side. Their antennas vibrated.

“So,” Leon whispered, “Should we head inside and try to lure one—”

“Pow!” An arrow flew into one creature’s front leg, where it bounced off and landed on the floor. Finn chuckled. “Well, that should make them come to us, right?”

The grasshoppers spread their wings again and came at them with incredible speed.

“Hert, protect Ava and Finn,” Leon said, and readied his sword and dagger.

As the two creatures came closer, Leon darted to the side of one, spun around, and slashed at its back. A crack sounded from the wound. And as it turned to face him, an arrow hit the insect’s chest, followed by a “Boom!” from Finn.

Leon pulled back the dagger and smashed it into the cracked opening. Another arrow came, and the monster sank down.

As it did, Leon saw the second grasshopper swinging one of its barbed legs down toward Hert and Ava, and Hert caught the leg with his new round shield. His reaction wasn’t quick enough. The edge bit into his shoulder and he quenched a scream. Leon sprinted toward the monster, and as he did, another arrow came flying from the side, hitting the creature’s neck area. It screeched, and Leon swung his dagger and sword.

“Cross-strike!” He swung the blades toward its middle part, and just as he hit the grasshopper, an arrow bounced off his bracer. He sucked in a breath and jumped back.

“Sorry, man! You shouldn’t aim where I aim.”

Leon bit his cheek and launched in for another strike, but before he finished it, an exclaimed “Pew!” and an arrow finished it.

The creature collapsed, and both of them turned into pixels and made a shimmering pile. Leon put his weapons inside his inventory.

“Seriously?” he asked as he approached the Ranger. “I shouldn’t aim where you aim? Shouldn’t you see where I go?”

“Nah, man. You look like you’re going to hit somewhere, and then you hit at my place. That’s not exactly my fault, is it?”

“And what about going for the other one instead of the one I fought? Hert got wounded!”

“Man, he’s a tank. He should take the damage, anyway.”

Leon just shook his head and continued to Hert and Ava. “How are you doing, Hert?”

“That hurt more than I thought it would,” Hert said, rolling his shoulder.

“Did you heal him?” Leon asked Ava.

“Of course. Though, if he was better at this stuff, I wouldn’t have needed to. At least I can heal twice a day now that I got all those status points.” Ava looked from Hert to Leon and smiled, hugging his arm. “You did really well though.”

“Come on, slowpokes,” Finn said, leaning on his bow. “Soon I’m going to die of old age.” When he spotted Ava on Leon’s arm, he hurried forward and ripped her away. “Did you see what I did? I told you I’m great. There’s the proof.”

Hert came up to Leon as Finn pulled Ava to the side. “Yeah. That’s not gonna work for me.”

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*******

“Boom!” Finn shouted, releasing an arrow.

“Boom!” Ava echoed, punching the air.

“Pow!” The arrow lodged in the grasshopper’s neck.

“Pow!”

Leon struck his sword in the beast’s chest and twisted. The outer, harder shell cracked. It fell onto the ground, wafting up a cloud of dust before the body splintered into pixels. He bent down to pocket the loot, since they’d agreed they could share their haul later. He almost knocked Finn on his chin on his way up, and Finn looted the invisible pile with a grin.

It was interesting to see how the loot divided between the party and others. The system seemed to divide the monster experience the same as the loot, and most of it went to the one who dealt the most damage—Finn, or the party.

Leon walked back to Hert and Ava with mixed feelings. Finn could have been a valuable asset to their team if one discounted the attitude and the blatant disregard for safety. One stomp from a leg could pierce through someone’s mid-section if one got in the grasshopper’s way, and usually, that someone was Leon. He was glad to have put some points in agility, or it might not have ended as well as it had. Luckily, they’d only encountered beasts that were level seven or eight.

Ava trotted up to Finn and looked up at his face. “What level are you? You’re so strong.”

“Twelve.” Finn rubbed a finger under his nose and straightened his back.

“Wow,” Ava said. “What’s it like, being in the main part of the city?”

“He’s staying at the Laughing Bard because no one wants him in their party,” Leon said in a flat voice.

A redness crept up Finn’s throat. “Well, let me clarify that bit. I’m looking for a party in Lowtown because most parties in the main part of the city are full, full of jerks, or simply too bad to waste my time on.”

“Sure,” Leon said, nodding while he continued down another path. “That’s why you’re looking for lower level players. Not just to brag, or that you’ve run out of options.”

“That’s exactly right!” Finn said. He quickened his steps and put an arm around Leon’s shoulders. “I knew you would understand me, eventually.”

“There’s another level seven,” Leon said in a monotone voice. He’d given up for today. There was no doubt Finn’s arrows dealt more damage than his hits, and since Leon was the only real damage dealer in their party, they hadn’t had the chance to grow nearly as much as he’d hoped today. One percent for roughly four hours.

Finn turned to Leon. “Watch this!”

He pulled back the string, and before he let go, he looked back at Ava and winked.

“Power shot!” The arrow flew, gaining speed. It crashed into the creature, which fell dead onto the ground. “Crash!”

“Pow!” Ava giggled and rushed up to Finn. “You’re totally going to be a fit for our party.”

“Yup. Told ya.” Finn scratched his chin with the bow. “Since I’m gonna join you guys, what level is your party?”

“No,” Hert and Leon said as Ava answered, “Seven.”

Finn whistled. “You guys must have done a lot together, huh? Yeah, I think I’ll join you. We’re going to raise our party from average to epic!”

“You’re not joining,” Hert said, shaking the head of the hammer toward him. “You lack all kinds of awareness, you endanger—”

Ava stood on her toes and pushed her hand over his mouth. “We’re a team, remember? The least we can do is talk about it.”

Leon sighed and put his weapons into the inventory while Finn pocketed the loot. He looked from the crouching man to Ava, then at Hert. “Sure. Okay. Let’s head back to Pura. We can discuss this there.”

“What?” Hert said.

“Oh, thank you!” Ava hugged his arm.

“Sure,” Finn called. “We need to discuss who gets to lead us, anyway.”

Leon kneaded his eyelids. “Without Finn.”

*******

Since Leon couldn’t enter the Drowned Goblin, they decided to go to Hert’s shop. It turned out to be better that way, since Finn wouldn’t leave them alone, and Hert needed to give access for someone to enter. Needless to say, he only granted Ava that permission.

It was surprisingly warm in there, considering that the forge stood unlit, and Ava wrinkled her nose.

“It smells… dirty in here. Like soot or something.” She looked around the empty room. “And weren’t you supposed to have a shop?”

“Surely you’ve smelled worse, having lived in the Slums for so long.”

Ava swiped a finger over a table and frowned at the slightly gray outcome. She crossed her arms while Leon launched himself up to sit on the counter.

“So, Finn. What do we do about him?” Leon asked.

Hert crossed his arms over the cracked metal plate on his chest. “I think you’ve got it right on this one. Things could have gone badly today if you hadn’t gotten better at dodging.”

“But he’s so strong,” Ava exclaimed. “And kind of funny.”

“I hate to admit it, but Ava is right. He’s strong,” Leon said. He held up a finger as Ava opened her mouth. “But Hert is also right. He’s dangerous to hunt with.”

“So… he can join us?” Ava asked.

“I say yes—”

“What the hell?” Hert said, taking a step toward Leon.

Leon continued, “But we only keep him in the party until we level up. He can get far more done than we could in a day, so he’ll basically boost us. He gets the company and the praise he really wants, and we get what we want, which is to rise in power and levels so we can start to climb the tower.”

Hert stroked his chin. “Well, I suppose we could do that.”

“What?” Ava said. “That’s so mean!”

“It’s business, and striving for our goals,” Leon said. Then he shrugged. “Who knows, maybe he grows on us and he’ll get to stay.” He doubted that, but weird shit happened from time to time. Like people coming back to life after having been dead for eight years. The chance was just as likely.

“Well, I guess that’s okay, then.”