John hesitated to counter with his training sword, and Wyn punished him for it. A quick blow to the Squire’s ribs reminded him that hesitation was costly. Despite his own weapon being a wooden sword, Wyn couldn’t help but feel bad for John at both the implication and the actual hit.
He wasn’t fighting like himself. Hells, he wasn’t even climbing like himself, and he had been that way all week. Something about leading the group completely turned John’s personality upside down.
“Hit,” Tasha said, her face scrunching in sympathetic pain.
“Damnit!” John said. “I saw you coming with your sword, too. What is wrong with me?” He threw his own wooden sword to the ground with a clatter, and grasped his shield like he wanted to squeeze it flat between both hands or throw it into the wall.
“Nothing’s wrong with you,” Wyn said.
John cursed under his breath. “I’ve been a horrible Climber all week. I haven’t been sleeping well, I’ve been stressed. What is going on?”
Tasha walked over and comforted John, rubbing his back. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, letting her touch calm him down. He then put his arm around her and pulled her close to him for a hug.
Wyn walked and patted him on his other shoulder before setting his wooden sword and shield on the nearby weapon rack. The rest of the training hall in the guild was empty, and the large space made every little noise echo.
“I think I have an idea, but you’re not going to like what I have to say,” Wyn said after a few more lingering seconds of silence.
John sighed. “I need to hear it, though. Go ahead.”
Wyn looked at his friend. He didn’t seem mad, but rather melancholy. Like he was mentally in a rut and couldn’t climb out to be his typical joyous self. And Wyn knew why. But the truth was going to sting. Though hearing it would help him eventually return to the man Wyn knew.
“You’ve been having trouble this week leading the team,” Wyn said. “It didn’t start with me getting hurt on the sixth floor. It started from the beginning. Unfortunately that instance made it worse and you’ve been struggling worse ever since.”
John slowly nodded along while Tasha kept hugging him from the side.
“I’m going to assume something and you can tell me if I’m wrong, but I believe that you see Gregory as both the leader of his group and of this guild and you want to be like him. You want to be a Knight like him, be successful like him, and learn from him. Your personal training with him went well, and he probably said some very inspiring things and encouraging words, which is great. But you took them so seriously you pushed yourself too hard.”
John opened his mouth to speak but stopped for a moment. “Damn. Well… yes. That’s true.”
“You prepared yourself for the week, tried some ideas that Gregory showed you, but couldn’t quite prepare for when things went wrong,” Wyn continued. “You had too many choices running through your head when you needed to act, and instead stayed silent.”
“Wyn,” Tasha said. “That’s a bit harsh.”
“No, it’s not,” John said. “He’s right. Annoyingly so.”
Wyn sadly smiled. “But it’s okay, John. Despite what you think, it’s all okay.”
John furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. “How do you figure?”
“How do you think I know all of that? I’m not some tactical genius.”
“It’s because you were there, too,” Tasha said. “Right?”
“Yea. Exactly. When I was first promoted to captain, I was an awful leader. Constantly second guessing myself, being questioned by soldiers, and berated by my superiors when the slightest thing went wrong. It took awhile for me to get confident leading other people, but I was not a good leader at first.”
“That’s both encouraging and sad,” John said. “I only had a week and I failed.”
“Not necessarily. Remember why Gregory is having us do this to begin with.”
“Something I don’t even understand,” Tasha said. “And I’m not looking forward to my turn, by the way. Thanks for that.”
Wyn chuckled. “I think the simplest explanation is the right one. He just wants to see if there’s a potential for another leader in our group. Either for our group to be more efficient or to possibly lead another group if the opportunity comes.”
“But we already have you,” John said. “And it was working out just fine before now.”
“True. But he doesn’t know that. Not as well as we do, at least. He's just doing his due diligence as a guild leader to make sure we can be the best version of ourselves. And you never know, maybe one day you might want to branch off and lead your own group or even your own guild. This experience will help shape you to do that and you’ll be better for it.”
John folded his arms and sighed. “You really think so?”
“Of course I do! I know we all won’t be Climbers forever. And I knew that before I wanted us to stay together, and I still want that. But times will change. And if you want to be a leader one day, it’s very possible. You just need time and practice.”
“I appreciate that,” John said. “I wanted to lead a group or start my own guild ever since I learned about how my parents climbed. It was something I could say was my own, something they never did. But that doesn’t mean I have to both lead a guild and a group. Truth be told, I was far happier and better when you take charge. I can plan ahead just fine without needing to make split second decisions that could seriously injure or kill someone.”
Wyn wanted to reply that leading a guild carried a similar weight to leading a group, but he understood what John meant. He wasn’t in the right state of mind or experience to want to lead a group, even if Gregory, his idol, was encouraging him to try or even presenting the opportunity. Making decisions at a moment’s notice was a special skill that people either had or had to work incredibly hard to obtain.
John could get there. But he wasn’t there yet.
“You’re exactly right,” Tasha said. “I know you have what it takes, even if you don’t think so right now. But know I support you. Including the others.”
Wyn looked over at the pair. They hugged again, and Tasha’s words and comfort not only calmed John but seemed to make him happy. Something was obviously developing between them, and it was nice to see. He only hoped they wouldn’t be split up. He had no idea about how the guild saw intergroup relationships. It didn’t matter to him, especially considering how well they both climbed and worked together. If anything he could see them being stronger because of their bond. But hopefully Gregory would see it that way, too.
Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
“I’m guessing we’re done for today, then?” Wyn asked. He could see both John and Tasha were distracted.
“I believe so,” John said. He extended a hand to Wyn in appreciation. “I really needed this. Both the workout but also the talk. I’ll be okay. Really. Thank you for your support.”
Wyn took his forearm and clasped it. “That’s what I’m here for, remember? I’m your support!”
Tasha giggled while John shook his head. Wyn couldn’t help but smile himself.
“Speaking of climbing, how do you think Cedric will do this week?” John asked. “I know he’s smart, but leading a group is completely different. I know that, now.”
“I think he’s going to do really well,” Tasha said. “He’s been preparing non-stop all week. After your meeting yesterday, Wyn, he’s been holding himself up in his room reviewing possibilities for the week.”
“That sounds a bit overboard, doesn’t it?” John asked.
“Not necessarily,” Wyn said. “We learned about the monsters and their possible drops in the first two tiers. That was a good bit of information. I’m going to guess he’s either going to want us to advance more or get more items.”
“And you have that multi-guild meeting next week, right?” John asked. “I was really jealous you got the invite. I want to go so bad!”
“Technically Wyn is still our group leader,” Tasha said. “It makes sense for him to go.”
“Don’t worry too much about it,” Wyn said. “I won’t be saying anything. Not according to Faye. It’s just a meeting where the guilds come together and share any information if they want to, though it’s mostly to gauge everyone’s progress. She said it can light a fire under some guilds who are lagging behind, or to encourage some of the top guilds to make decisions about the season if it’s too difficult. The Tower Master, Aureus, will be there, too.”
John swallowed. “On second thought, maybe I don’t want to go. Good luck!”
Wyn chuckled. He wasn’t too worried about the meeting. What he was worried about at the moment was Cedric. He had no idea how serious he was taking the responsibility of leading the group. Could he do so well Gregory might reconsider their leadership?
Only the week’s outcome would tell. And if Wyn was being honest to himself, he wanted to keep being their leader.
He wondered how the week’s preparatory meeting tomorrow with Cedric with go. He suddenly had a pit in his stomach.
*****
Wyn stared at the paper in front of him. It wasn’t too lengthy, but it was definitely detailed. And intimidating.
The others in the war room also took some time to read their papers. Cedric stood at the end of the rectangular table, waiting for them all to finish. He had just gave a briefing on how he recorded his plan for the week for his time as their leader and their climbing schedule.
Wyn didn’t know whether he was impressed by Cedric's commitment or scared for his position.
The plan was straightforward but very detailed. And nearly half the page long. Essentially, Cedric wanted to accomplish both goals Wyn anticipated: advancing through the second tier as well as getting the items they need to give to the guild.
The guild has a stipulation that they, as a group, have to contribute five magical items per tier they climb. Not a terribly steep price, but not insignificant, either. The first tier was easy - five green rarity items. They already fulfilled that requirement. The second tier was less easy being only blue rarity items. For that, they only had two items drops they considered giving to the guild. After killing the wyvern with John and Wyn being seriously injured, John refused to have them climb that far again and stayed in the first tier. But they still had two items drop during that fight. The green gloves they donated as their fifth item for the first tier requirement and the blue rarity circlet. They identified it and realized it was valuable, so that was their second item. The first was the blue short sword from the fourth floor boss during the first week.
So, the first part of Cedric’s strategy was for them to climb deeper in the second tier so obtain three more blue items in order for them to start building up their own personal collection of items. That was fine by Wyn. He needed more items to sell anyway, and now that they had Lucy in their group, they needed dozens of items for him to fairly claim them for his own gain. It wasn’t right for him to keep asking the others to let him keep extra items to help pay off his debt, and now that Cedric cleaned out his savings to pay Cara for his new arm, he wanted more, too.
The second part of Cedric’s strategy was to make it to the eighth floor. Which was a big advancement for the group. Cedric’s pitch was that they had a sixth member now and could handle themselves better, information on the floor’s monsters to help prepare, and plenty of time to take it slow if needed. His reasoning was that if they wanted to advance to the third tier soon, they needed the equipment that Gregory required them to wear, which was a blue rarity set that improved their relevant abilities, and then mostly blue items for the rest of their equipment. It would take either climbing in the second tier exclusively or trading up with a stash of green rarity items to start improving their respective gear.
Wyn couldn’t argue with his logic, and he had excitement surge throughout his body. He was hoping to do something similar after realizing they could push themselves further, and apparently Cedric felt the same way.
The final layout of the plan was simple. They would climb two to three floors in the first tier every morning to warm up, stashing any items they found to be traded up later, and then move to the second tier for the rest of the day. Cedric was their leader for the entire week, which meant six days of potential climbing, and he wanted to use all of them. Tasha was fine sacrificing her first day next week for them to rest, something they agreed on beforehand. The first day they’d repeat the sixth floor twice, the second day they’d progress to the seventh floor, and then go back to the sixth. His goal was to clear the seventh floor by Wursday, or the fourth day of the week. That gave them two more days of exploring the eighth floor or doing what they needed to get more items, depending on how the week went.
At the very bottom of everyone’s paper was a list of potential items and effects they could use. Lucy and John had the most available as there were so many options they could use, and they were the ones who needed upgrades the most. Tasha and Marcy had a fair number of items as well as they also needed to upgrade their equipment, much to Marcy’s annoyance. But she also recognized that it was time to start upgrading her gear, something she realized after she obtained her new boots and cloak last month that gave her such an advantage.
Wyn looked down at his paper and realized there wasn’t much for him to possibly use. He already had upgraded equipment that could serve as useful for the next tier, except his pants, chest armor, and belt were green rarity. His overcoat, boots, and necklace were blue rarity, and his weapon, shield, and helmet were also blue. So he was mostly prepared, but had some areas of improvement. Still, Cedric had several items and effects Wyn could use to replace the green rarity items he currently was using, and Wyn was impressed the Wizard was so thorough.
As they reviewed Cedric’s plan, realization him them that they needed a lot of blue rarity and set items to round out their needed equipment. And by a lot, it was a lot. Two dozen items were needed between the six of them. A number that would be unheard of to obtain in a week, even if they found another secret room and exploited it.
But it was a goal. A number to strive for. Cedric also pointed out that if they found half of that and distributed it, technically they would still fall within the requirements of needing ‘most’ of their equipment to be of second tier quality. And a dozen of those items was a much more reasonable expectation. Wyn figured they could even do that within the month, especially if Tasha pushes them to climb at a similar expectation that Cedric has planned.
So with their new plan created, the group went to bed early for the night to rest for the coming week.
And as the first few days of their climbing went exactly as planned, Wyn felt both impressed at the capability of climbing and worried that Cedric would want to take over as leader or Gregory would see how much he excelled and task him as leader. But that was a worry for another time. For now, Wyn only wanted to climb and continue pushing himself.
And push himself he did.
On their second day of Cedric’s week they attempted the seventh floor but left early after being squeezed between a trap and a group of monsters that were difficult. Cedric made the call to reconvene then try again when the layout was better, especially since they knew the enemies they would face and the traps to find. The problem was knowing was only half the battle. It was a smart and proactive decision, and Wyn was thankful he didn’t push them too hard or had the inability to decide like John.
The fourth day of the week, Wursday, was the day they tried again. And Cedric told the group he was prepared to push them through to the eighth floor. Meeting in the portal room at the base of Alistair, the group mentally prepared themselves before entering the portal. They all held their gliders then stepped through into the seventh floor.