OutRanked (The Weight Of It All): A LitRPG Fantasy Adventure Read online

  “This man didn’t have an affinity, apparently. Either way, he felt confident enough to fight off any of the low-Ranking monsters in the woods.”

  “So, was it a monster, then?” Elise asked, transfixed.

  Britta chuckled. “He grabs his sword and starts walking towards the sounds. He reaches the edge of the clearing and finds a small human-like figure on the ground, no bigger than his hands. The figure had wings and a couple large antennas that made it look very insect-like, but the arms and legs made him less wary that the thing on the ground was a monster of some sort.

  “The tiny creature was facing the ground when he arrived, but as he continued to inspect the tiny being, it turns around and notices the old man watching. Startled, the figure cowered before bearing its small teeth at the man.

  “Still, the man doesn’t raise his sword, noticing that the wings of the figure are hurt. Setting aside his sword, he goes to grab the tiny thing. It protests at first, making noises he’d never heard, until eventually, he convinces it that he means no harm.”

  “So, he helped heal it?” Elise asked.

  “Yeah, he did. He took it back to his cabin, where he helped mend its wing and arm. We were told that that is how we came to know of the Nymep, the tiny fairy-like monster that lives with the trees. We still don’t know much about them. Still, we were told they might be another intelligent monster with whom we could potentially communicate someday.

  “Legend has it the man lived to be a hundred-and-fifty-years-old due to befriending the Nymep, which is why the story gets passed on so much. People with loads of money send Dungeoneers out often to find any glimpse of a Nymep, but no one ever finds them.”

  “That would be so cool!” Elise exclaimed. “If I found one, I bet my Affinity would be something like FAIRY. I could learn some cool fairy magic or even learn to fly!” Elise continued. Britta’s story reinvigorated her, and we all laughed as she came up with ideas for what her Affinity might be.

  After hearing it in class, the story itself was one that people had already picked apart. Despite the majesty of hearing about fairies or a new sentient species called the Nymep, I knew this was likely another folktale to tell people to treat the forest well. Of course, Britta wasn’t making it up when she said wealthy people were trying to find the species. Still, any sightings for the Nymep were very rare.

  The others continued to joke and tell stories, but I decided this might be a good time to do some meditation.

  Focusing on my body's internal energies, I could feel the energy within me was getting stronger by the day. I knew my body would get stronger as my Affinity grew but seeing the new form of energy growing within me was a marvel.

  I focused as hard as I could on pooling the energy, pulling it from one part of my body to another. Months of trying, and I still couldn’t enhance other parts of my body, but if my new Skill was any indication, I knew all my training was paying off.

  Still, it didn’t feel good to know both Britta and Jen could enhance their arms now. I was being left behind. I lost focus on what I was doing as the energy I’d been moving around dissipated.

  I stopped the self-doubt and focused again on what I could do now. Meditation was calming, and it wasn’t until a couple hours passed that I finally re-opened my eyes. I might have stayed in my meditation for longer, but the wagon stirred, and we halted.

  We couldn’t have reached the Capital yet, so I had a feeling something else was wrong.

  I looked at my friends' faces and wasn’t startled to see they were getting their weapons ready. We knew this might happen, but I hated what the roads had become since the war was announced.

  I poked my head through one of the holes in the wagon, augmenting my eyesight on instinct as I focused on the men and women standing in the road ahead of us. We weren’t the only ones being stopped as we saw them berating another traveller ahead of the wagon.

  Their clothes were well kept compared to the bandits we’d seen on our way to Krader, but still, they didn’t look like a friendly, welcoming crew.

  At best, they looked like opportunists trying to score some free coins from people fleeing to safety. And at worst, they looked like thugs.

  Either way, I didn’t see this going well.

  Chapter 2 – Desperate

  “I’m going!” Lin yelled from behind the wagon.

  “They don’t look like they’re actually hurting anyone, Lin. We need someone willing to talk to them. Not someone who’ll force us into a fight,” Holly said, looking exhausted already.

  “I’m tired of this damn wagon, and you know as well as I do they look like scum!” Lin objected.

  “Lin, Holly’s right. A couple look like they’re wearing old soldier garbs, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re on their way to the front lines. I’ll go,” Griff said, pushing down the dagger in Lin’s hand and motioning to the group ahead of us.

  “Terrence, go with him,” dad said from his seat in the wagon. “I’ve got Elise.”

  Elise looked frightened again as she hugged him closer.

  Just in case, I made sure I had my axe handy as I jumped down from the wagon and walked behind Griff. I heard someone else hit the ground and found Britta standing behind me with her shield.

  “You need someone to protect you, and I drew the short straw,” she joked, patting the shield she’d borrowed from Griff. It was for the best that the others weren’t following behind us. Despite being the best negotiators among us, Jen and Zane probably made us look like easy targets with a lot of money. At the same time, Cassie’s sarcasm probably wouldn’t help.

  We stayed behind Griff, close enough for people to know we were together. Griff glanced back to see us behind him but didn’t comment as he kept walking. Griff didn’t need the backup, but I bet it helped to know he wasn’t alone.

  “Things are desperate in the Capital right now, friend,” a man told the crowd. “You’ll need one of us to help you navigate the city. To find housing, the best food spots, and even the secret spots no one else can help you with, we’re the ones you’ll want helping you get through it all. For a small fee, we’ll help you with all of that.” The lead thug explained to those at the front of the line.

  “We’ll be fine; thank you for the offer, though,” a person said as they tried to step past the man blocking his way.

  “While it is an offer, it is something that we must insist,” the man said, blocking their path. “You see, there have been hundreds of people coming into the city! We’re doing what we can to make sure we don’t let just anyone in who might try to ruin the city or hurt its people! I’m being shipped off to war, for Goddess’ sake! I want to make sure my family is safe while I’m away.

  “You understand, of course.” He said with a smile.

  The fidgeting group of men standing behind him really reinforced how welcoming they intended to be.

  The man at the front of the line understood he couldn’t do much about it as he looked back at his group. They were on foot and looked rather tired as they started rifling through the modest amount of coin they had to give the man.

  “We don’t have much money….” He whispered to the man.

  “Not an issue at all, my good friend! We work on an as-needed basis. Give us what you can today, and I gather we can come to a suitable arrangement for both of us.”

  I took Griff’s expression to mean he’d heard enough as he walked in between the two men. He hadn’t drawn his weapon, but the men standing behind the swindler met his aggressive stance as they brandished their weapons.

  “These people are looking for safety, and instead, they’ve been met by bandits steps away from the capital?” He yelled.

  “We aren’t bandits, old man. Like I told the man, we’re all heading to war and just want to ensure our families are safe while we’re away,” the swindler answered.

  “And how does taking money from helpless families help your own family?” Griff asked.

  “It ensures—"

  “Oh, sh
ut it, you sorry excuse for a soldier. You’re talking out of your ass, and we both know it. Now, I don’t want anyone getting hurt,” Griff stressed.

  “I just want to get home to my wife and kids. Leave now, let these people through, and we’ll all be on our way.”

  “While I appreciate the offer, you’re at a bit of a disadvantage here, big boy. How about this? You and your party can leave now as a counter to your suggestion,” the man smiled again.

  “Free of charge. The others in line stay to continue negotiating, though.” He smiled, sticking out his hand for Griff to shake.

  Griff sighed.

  “Lin isn’t going to let me live this down,” he said, grabbing the man’s hand. Once clasped, he vaulted the man over his shoulder before throwing him headfirst into the ground.

  The rest of the men behind him didn’t react as their head negotiator stopped moving.

  Increase Weight.

  I increased my weight as the shock struck the rest of the group. Then, axe in hand, I waited to see who would charge first. Us or them.

  Griff didn’t bother pulling out a weapon as he cracked his hands in a fist.

  The others behind us scattered, some running down the road and past the thugs, others running into the surrounding woods.

  The thugs charged first.

  I counted twenty men as I augmented my eyesight and watched for ranged attackers. One archer caught my eye, but he was taken down quickly by an arrow, likely Adam watching our back.

  Reaching Griff, he quickly threw the men around like dolls, evading their weapons and creating a pile of bodies on the surrounding ground.

  Britta and I didn’t sit idle as I avoided using my axe, but threw punches and kicks at anyone who came near. By how quickly they fell, most were non-Affinity users, low-Ranking, untrained, or all three, as they promptly flailed to the ground.

  A sword encased in energy came crashing down onto Britta’s shield as the first genuine threat among the bunch made themselves known. Unfortunately, the Skill did very little even then as she deflected the attack, using an augmented punch to drive the man into the ground.

  I’d taken a couple of those punches before and knew he likely wouldn’t be getting up.

  A shard of glass came crashing down by our feet before exploding around us. I blocked my face with my arm as the glass flew up and towards our bodies.

  I looked around for the originator and saw a man creating another ball of glass further into the group of men. Guarded by a couple of men with shields, I noticed the shards had already hit Griff, but those simply skated off his body and armour.

  Unable to hurt Griff, he’d focused on the next best thing, the two teens behind him.

  Unwilling to be bombarded with shards of glass, I asked Britta to step in front as we marched towards the man.

  A couple of bandits came in our way, but again, they proved effortless to throw aside. While they might have been drafted for the army, I could only hope those in the other kingdom were merciful.

  Reaching the shielded guards, I assumed they were SHIELD affinity users and took them a bit more seriously as I prepared to attack.

  Increasing my weight more, I prepared to use my ‘Shift Weight’ Skill. Britta blocked another bombardment of glass, crashing towards us as we stepped towards the two SHIELD affinity users.

  Once done, I thanked Britta and used ‘Shift Weight,’ splitting the weight in my body between both of my hands. Likely only three hundred pounds in each hand since I still wasn’t used to using the Skill on both hands at once.

  Hoping this worked as my energy was straining, I slammed both hands into the shields of the two people. The impact hurt my hands some, but my energy held up, and I didn’t injure myself as the wooden shield on the left cracked and the one on the right was dropped as the man behind it screamed.

  Path cleared, I ran to what I assumed to be the GLASS affinity user as he cowered at Britta and me.

  “This is ridiculous!” He whined. “I didn’t choose to go to war! We were just having some fun before we’re forced to leave!”

  I didn’t listen long as I punched him in the gut before pushing him to the ground.

  “Are we sure we shouldn’t kill them?” Britta asked as she came up beside me.

  I looked around at what was once a fight. Griff had finished most of the charging men, while Lin, Adam, and Jen had all come behind us to stop the rest. I saw a few people had been killed, mainly from the arrows sticking out of their bodies, but most were, hopefully, just unconscious.

  “I’d rather not, but we’ll ask Griff what he thinks we should do,” I said, honestly not sure what to do. Leave them, and they could come back tomorrow. Kill them, and well, then we’ve killed people… something I still didn’t feel comfortable doing unless absolutely provoked.

  We walked to Griff and asked our questions.

  “We’ll take their weapons. The army will hopefully help them when they get to the front lines. But I doubt weapons will help them much by the way they fought. These were desperate people. Likely never fought another human in their lives,” He sighed again. Griff seemed frustrated. He really seemed eager to get through that talk without violence.

  “Okay, we’ll grab their weapons,” I answered.

  “Don’t heal them unless they’re dying but use your Skill. It will be good practice,” Holly told Cassie, pointing at the fallen men scattered on the ground.

  We hurried through the group of thugs, grabbing anything that might’ve been used to hurt or scare others on the road.

  We got several words of thanks from the couple of groups that had been held up on the road with us, but I knew it was just a drop in the bucket. Griff said it best; people were desperate. And all it took was for one person with Griff’s level of strength to make people’s lives a living hell.

  “Get out of your head, Ren. These guys got off really easy,” Jen said as she came beside me, willing me to go back to the wagon.

  “Sure, but now they’re just going to be put on the front lines to die anyway,” I answered.

  “Yes, that’s true. But there are also people like Griff who might help even the odds. He’ll be on the front lines too. And it’s because of good people like Griff these men get to live to see another day.”

  “Yeah, maybe. It’s fine, let’s go. Thanks, Jen.”

  “No problem. I told Elise I’d get you. She was worried, but I told her you were strong and would be fine.”

  I chuckled. “Oh yeah, is that what you think?”

  She smirked. “Sometimes. Maybe we’ll get to spar in the Capital. I also just miss the simpler times.”

  “I’d like that.”

  *****

  “Goddess, help me. I can’t sit in this wagon anymore!” Britta screamed abruptly, taking me out of my mediation.

  “Jen, Zane, Ren, and Cassie let’s go. I don’t know what day it is, but I’m the coach for today. We’re running with the wagon,” she continued, yelling at each of us as she jostled Cassie and Jen to get up, since they were closest to her.

  “We’re so close now! I don’t want to be all sweaty when we finally get there….” Cassie complained, fighting against the grip of Britta’s hold.

  “No excuses. Training starts again right now,” Britta insisted as she basically lifted Cassie up.

  “I want to go too!” Elise said, also standing up and startling dad.

  “Not this time, little warrior; we’ll be going a bit too fast,” Britta said as she pushed Cassie out the back of the wagon.

  “Adam, go with them,” Griff said as he asked Holly to take his spot at the front of the wagon.

  “Alright, but you all have to keep up with me then,” Adam said, earning groans from the rest of us.

  We hadn’t really agreed, but I was still thankful to get out of the wagon.

  I got up and jumped off the wagon.

  As the wagon continued, we grouped together quickly.

  “Can any of you augment your legs yet?” Adam asked, stretch
ing his legs.

  “No,” I said, shaking my head.

  The rest also said ‘No,’ confirming what I already knew.

  “Okay, then I’ll take it slow. But, Britta, with your Skill, this won’t amount to much, so I want you augmenting your arms the entire time we run. Also, try pushing it elsewhere.

  “Jen, augment what you can, and create the brightest swords you can while you run.

  “Cassie, try using your Skill on yourself while you run. See if it helps ease some of the pain from running.

  “Zane, watch the rest of us as we run with your Skill.

  “And Terrence, you increase your weight as you run. Then, when you’re about to run out of energy, pull back so you can keep up,” Adam instructed as we all got ready to catch up to the wagon.

  “Okay, give me a few, sorry,” I said before using my Skill.

  Increase Weight.

  The others didn’t need any time to prepare their own Skills, which was a bit annoying as they all waited for me to finish. Eventually, I increased my weight to six hundred pounds. Following through on some of the training I’d done with Lin, I then used ‘Shift Weight’ to move most of the weight to my legs.

  I couldn’t augment my legs with energy yet, but I hoped using my Skill this way would help the process along.

  Everyone ready, we ran after Adam. And while Adam wasn’t using energy, years of training paid off as he pushed us to catch up with the wagon before we passed it and kept going.

  We ran for an hour. And while I needed to drop my Skill minutes later, I was excited to find I’d lasted even that long. Jen changed the brightness and length of her swords along the way as practice. Cassie almost lasted the entire hour but had to drop back for the last fifteen. Even then, at the pace we were going, I had a good feeling her Skill really might have helped keep her going. I was excited to ask her about that later.

  Britta was barely tired by the end of the run, but I could tell she’d calmed down. If not for the rest of us, I bet she would’ve been happy to run the whole way from the Fox Estate to the Capital.

  “We’ll wait here for the wagon. We’re probably only an hour away from the city,” Adam said, sitting down on the side of the road.