I quit yelling after five minutes but I was still less than happy at finding out the one bonus of Loner that I had skipped in favor of the Vigorous Title was {Heal}.

‡ {Heal} - Sometimes not being able to dodge is bad. Cost 2 Mana restores 1 HP, higher levels improve ratio by 10% per level. ‡

"This is the most FML moment I have ever had." I was laying on the ground staring at the sky.

"It's pretty heavy man, but shit happens."

I looked over at Stew "I could stab a mother fucker right now."

A moment later I sat up. "It's getting late. Maybe we should head back and meet up with Sam."

"Not planning on ditching me just because I took an extra fifteen minutes are you?"

We all scrambled to our feet.  "Hey! You're back. We were just taking a break from training"

It looked like Meagan had changed her clothes again. She still wore jeans but had switched her tennis shoes for boots. She had also changed into a long sleeve flannel shirt. "You look hot in that." 

She raised an eyebrow at me and my face burned. I realized what I had just said. "I meant on a sunny day like today you're wearing a long sleeved shirt."

"Sure you did." Stew was laughing.

Meagan laughed a little. "I know what you meant. I don't have any armor so I just went for coverage."

Stew stopped laughing as we all looked at each other. We were all wearing jeans. I was still wearing my too large boots. Otherwise I don't think Stew's Rogue One tee, Mike's classic Metallica shirt or my borrowed Raiders shirt qualified as coverage, let alone armor. "I told you. Way better than us." I muttered to Stew.

"Come on." Meagan walked over to where the Neighborhood Association people had been standing guard. There were now five people in front of the store entrance.

"Now we're both here. No big deal." A young looking Latino man dressed similar to Meagan said. He was holding a garden pitchfork with the two outside tines sawed off.

"What are they doing here?" One of the older men was pointing at us. "They've been causing trouble since we started and we're supposed to warn people off, not invite them in."

"They're my friends and they were just waiting to make sure I made it back OK. I brought sandwiches for them, then they have to head home."

The guy gave Meagan a hard look. "Fine. But we're going to let Bill know."

The shaggy haired Latino sneered. "Good. Then we'll all know where we stand."

Meagan elbowed him in the side. "Feel free. Bill knows we're here and we know what we're supposed to be doing."

The group of four men walked away with a few backwards glances.

When they were gone Meagan introduced us to Gilberto. He was a college student living at home. Home was with his mom in the house behind Meagan's. He had seen his older brother die trying to help a woman when nobody else would. He blamed the association, or more specifically Bill, who hadn't come out of his own house until a large group with guns had arrived. So he had gotten on board with a plan Meagan had come up with. She had convinced her father that she should pull her own weight and help the Neighborhood Association. Then she had gotten herself and Gilberto picked to be the relief for the guards at the store. She would go into the store with us and Gilberto would just say she left with us if anything happened.

"I even brought enough sandwiches for everyone."

"You are the most perfect being in existence. Are they roast beef?"

"Turkey."

Stew shrugged as he took one. "Eh, you're still all right."

While we ate we told Meagan about our skill gains as well as what we got from our titles. This then turned into Stew trying to explain what we knew about skills and titles to Gilberto. Which reminded me about the one offensive spell I knew how to get.

"I'm going to magic this up now. And since Mike won't show us I'll just have to do the {Mana Bolt} myself."

"Wait. You can do real magic?" Gilberto sounded excited to hear about it.

"Yea, in the Average Title. 9 Skill points in," I pointed at Mike. "Right?"

After he nodded I started putting points in. On the third bonus level I got Dodge.

‡ Dodge - When the person behind you deserves it more. Cost: Distance dependent ‡

"Mike, you have Dodge and you didn't share?"

"I didn't think anyone would be willing to do it on asphalt."

"Mostly right." I put another 5 points in and finally got my first offensive spell, {Mana Bolt}.

‡ {Mana Bolt} - Create a ball of Mana that explodes on contact. Cost: 10 Mana, higher levels reduce cast time and Mana cost as well as increase effectiveness. ‡

The knowledge I got with the skill wasn't very specific but I knew it required a hand sign of some sort. Everyone stared as I stood there making random finger signs. Predictably Stew was the first to say anything. I was surprised it took so long actually, I had been waving my hands around for almost a full minute. "I would like to be awed by your mastery of magic, but..."

I made a W with both hands. It felt close but not quite. I started applying mental pressure as I rotated my hands. "Almost there." When they made a diamond shape I felt a sudden release of pressure, like a valve had opened. I started grinning as a blue-green flame sprang to life in the center of my hands. After ten seconds it had grown to four inches across and began to intensify rather than grow any more. After thirty seconds I had a bright blue orb with green highlights that was struggling to fly away. Aiming at the top of the tower I let it go. I was ready for some intense magical action.

Halfway to the tower it suddenly dropped like a rock and hit the ground with a pop.

Stew had an awed tone in his voice. "The second coming of Siegfried."

I sighed. "Isn't that the tiger guy? Because he isn't dead."

"Roy says it all the time though."

"Moving on from my humiliation, I have a plan for getting into the tower. It relies heavily on Stew and his strengths. Mike and I will walk around the back of the store. In five minutes I want you," I pointed at Stew. "to basically be loud and annoying and attract the whatevers attention. Then I'll climb up and take care of it."

"I like your plan and its dependence on me. However, I have one question. Does anybody have a dagger? Because you could do some Assassin's Creed shit and totally make up for that lame magic show."

It was a quick walk around the back, not even anything jumping out of the trees that lined the pavement behind the store. We waited around the corner for Stew to start. Once he started I could feel the creature move towards that side to watch him. I motioned to Mike and we began to move as quietly as we could towards the wall of the tower.

‡ [Sneak] Unlocked ‡

‡ [Sneak] - Sometimes that cookie just looks really good. Am I right? Cost: Varies on circumstance. ‡

We made it to the tower wall without any sign of being spotted. I hooked my crowbar in my belt and made sure my backpack was secure. I gave Mike a thumbs up. When I got one from him I started up the wall. The first few feet weren't so bad. It was different from the street light but the mortared grooves were big and deep enough to hook my fingertips and the edges of the blocks didn't crumble under my boots. Once my feet got higher than Mikes head I started to worry. Holding myself up was showing itself in my Stamina I would probably survive the fall but I really didn't want to deal with an arrow while I was down with a broken leg. I also had to contend with the Stamina usage of [Sneak]. I gained a level in both [Sneak] and Climb by the time I neared the top. I also found that staying still let me slowly gain Stamina, my Climb left me with almost a full Stamina per second recovery when I wasn't moving.

When my head was just below the top I rested for a few seconds to regain some Stamina.

I began moving quietly upwards. As my hand got better purchase my Stamina use from Climb dropped while my [Sneak] increased.

‡ Congratulations! [Sneak] is now level 3, +1 Skill Point ‡

‡ Congratulations! [Sneak] is now level 4, +1 Skill Point ‡

I had to agree with Meagan, I doubted I would have increased [Sneak] nearly this much with just ten minutes of messing around. I just wished that it reduced Stamina use at higher levels.

I could hear Stew laughing and taunting clearly now as well as a furious chittering. "Come on! You aim like a drunk at a urinal!"

Moving my head above the top layer of blocks I finally saw our opponent. It was a grand total of three feet tall and wearing a ratty looking gray cloak that reached the back of it's knees. The bow it was using looked like a branch with a string tied to it. 

‡ Lvl(3) Rat Archer ‡

It almost seemed like it could understand Stew it was focused so tightly on him. I reached forward and grabbed the inside edge of the short wall formed by the top row of blocks. Tensing I started to pull myself over. My belt buckle scraped on the edge, I froze. For a second I hoped Stew had been loud enough to cover the noise. Then it turned saw me climbing over the edge. It screeched as it brought the bow around towards me.

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Club Initiate - You have begun to see the use of clubs

•Learn:[Shattering Blow], Str+1

•Attack +5% when using a club

•Learn:[Thrust], Dex+1

•Attack +5% when using a club, Vit +1

•Learn:{Imbue Club}, Int+1