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

  “Her necklace?” Elise asked.

  “Or her earrings, or her shirt. Anything, really. Just tell her she looks pretty,” Griff said as his speech sped up.

  Dad laughed, which got Holly and Lin to laugh too.

  “What’s so funny? I can tell her she looks pretty, but what’s so funny?” Elise asked, just as confused as I was.

  “It’s nothing, honey. Griff just doesn’t want his wife to be mad when he gets home. He’s hoping you’ll distract her from him for a bit,” Dad said, giving Elise a side-hug.

  “But why would she be mad?” Elise asked, which earned even more laughs from Lin, Holly, and Dad.

  *****

  “You’re late,” a short woman with a large bust said as we reached the door of a large house thirty minutes into our walk through the capital. Entering the inner walls was a pain, but after explaining to the guards that Griff and Holly both lived in the city, we passed in without too much of a hassle.

  Walking through the city, there were so many things I wanted to explore. We didn’t, though, as we hurried to Griff’s home.

  Looking at the pudgier woman and how she looked at Griff, I immediately knew she was his wife.

  “Some things happened, love. It couldn’t be helped,” Griff mumbled as he encouraged the rest of us to get inside.

  “I like your earrings, ma’am; they’re beautiful,” Elise said, grabbing the woman’s hand.

  “Well, thank you. You’re beautiful yourself. Now run inside. There’s some food leftover on the stove, but I’ll be inside soon to make some more. Don’t mind the mess; I didn’t know you’d be getting here today,” she said, crouching down slightly to Elise and giving her a hug before pushing her inside with the others.

  I simply waved as I walked in, thanking her for letting us stay in their home for the time being.

  As we entered, we managed to make it just inside before the yelling of Griff’s wife hit our ears.

  “You thought I’d be won over by some cute little girl! No sir! You’ve done it this time, and I’m not letting you get off that easy! I’ve been waiting for months, and I haven’t received as much as a letter! There was a collapse just weeks ago, yet I can’t even tell our kids where their father is! Did you not think—”

  Holly closed the door as Lin grimaced.

  “Let’s go find that food, shall we?” Holly said, forcing us further inside and out of earshot.

  Poor Griff.

  *****

  We eventually found the stew left on the stove and were well into eating it by the time Griff and his wife entered the dining room. With his head down, I’d never seen Griff look so tired. Even after the collapse, dad had been exhausted, but Griff looked like he could’ve kept going for days.

  Now, I would’ve thought he’d fought off the Dungeon Boss by himself.

  “Sorry about that, everyone,” Griff’s wife said, glaring one last time at Griff as she walked past him and darted to the pantry. “I’ll whip up something else for everyone since I gather you’re all famished from the road. I’m Pauline, by the way. It’s a pleasure to meet you all. I know the place isn’t a lot, but you’re all welcome to stay as long as needed. I won’t have you staying in the tents outside the city, after all.”

  “Thanks, Pauline; I’ll be heading back to my place after dinner. I’ll be taking a few with me also,” Holly said.

  “Either way, we’ll work it out later. Welcome to the capital.”

  Chapter 5 – Nightmares

  Sweat dripped down as I launched myself out of the building and into the street. Running at my top speed, I didn’t care to look back.

  Tired.

  Exhaustion burned my limbs, but knew I couldn’t look.

  Running with every ounce of energy I could muster, I barely noticed as another body fell from the sky. This one was one of my classmates. And yet, even now, I couldn’t remember their name.

  The sounds of screeching and banging only got louder as I ran past their bleeding body, unable to do anything but run.

  Eventually, I reached another building, but as soon as I got inside, I could already hear the shuffling and pounding from outside. Constant pounding on the walls all around me.

  Running up the stairs, I hoped to find somewhere, anywhere, to hide.

  Tired.

  My legs felt heavy, and I almost screamed at the irony. I was supposed to have a unique WEIGHT Affinity, but I felt helpless against the beast chasing me.

  Another body lay bare at the top of the stairs. This one was closer to home as I noticed Jen’s face. Slashed and bruised, my body finally gave out.

  Unable to move any further, I finally looked at the monster chasing me. The walls were now gone, with nowhere to go. Unable to escape, the King had finally found me.

  Niggling thoughts swept through my mind as the monster cackled, throwing another body at me. Everyone was thrown before my feet, Jen, Zane, Elise, Mom, Dad, everyone. And yet, there was nothing I could do. Helpless and weighed down by my lack of power.

  Weak.

  Pleading, just like I’d done all those nights ago, I couldn’t do anything as the monster jumped towards me.

  I closed my eyes and screamed, unable to move. My voice was hoarse as I relived the same thing for another night.

  The monster bearing down on me, ready to finish me off, in what might be the only mercy it would provide for the evening. Scared and weak, I waited for it all to end. There was no one there to save me and no power to do anything else; I waited.

  Tired.

  Powerless.

  Weak.

  *****

  Nightmares woke me yet again as I looked around at the room. Of course, Zane, Jen, Cassie, and Britta were all safe. Still, that did nothing to help the lingering emotions that seemed to wrack my brain every few times I tried to sleep. And yet, that frustration didn’t stop itself from carrying over into real life.

  Supposedly prodigious at increasing my Rank and yet unable to save my mother. Unable to kill the E-Rank monster looking to destroy everything I loved and aimed to protect.

  I knew I’d come a long way, but I couldn’t stop myself from thinking that my dreams were right. Five more minutes, and my father would have turned up to another pile of corpses. And while we’d been able to reconcile, I still felt responsible.

  Current Progress.

  Affinity: Weight

  Rank 1 – View Weight – 100%

  Rank 2 – Increase Weight – 59%

  Rank 2 – Shift Weight

  Energy: 151/151

  I decided to stop focusing on it for another evening. Somehow, I’d increased my Rank 2 Skill to sixty percent, and yet, I still knew I wouldn’t have been able to do anything against the Monkin King.

  A calmer head might have pointed out monsters were supposed to be fought and defeated in teams, using the strengths and weaknesses of the group against the monsters. Still, I willed those thoughts away as I thought back on the fight.

  What could I have done differently?

  I meditated as I thought about my Skills and the abilities at my disposal.

  The speed of the monster had been our primary downfall. I felt comfortable keeping up with it using my enhanced eyesight, but my body was nowhere near fast enough. I’d spent so much time focusing on being able to hit harder, lift more weight, and handle more weight. All that didn’t matter. I couldn’t follow my opponent’s speed.

  Enhancing my body was obviously the answer, but I needed more practical experience. Albus was right. I’d been taking it too easy by only ever sparring with my friends. I needed to fight more monsters. I needed to put my body under stress so the next time I faced something stronger, it would be ready.

  More than that, I’d built up my Internal Energy to an amount more significant than anyone should rightfully have at my age, yet I felt like I was misusing it.

  From how everyone had explained Jen’s fights, she would have used the energy much more effectively than me. Already capable of creating two swords of
light, causing them to burst into light, lengthen at will, cut other people’s magic apart. She was the true genius of her Affinity.

  And yet here I was, barely able to use his Skills in combat.

  I sighed, knowing I was overthinking things and probably being a bit too hard on myself. I knew I was strong for my age and Rank, but it didn’t seem to matter.

  I was weak in the grand scheme of things. Incapable of protecting my mother and friends.

  I lost my nerve, and my concentration as the meditative state I’d been trying to hold broke away. Any energy I’d been circling around my body was set into disarray as I gripped my hands tightly.

  It took every ounce of willpower I had to not pound my hands onto the wooden floor beneath me. I didn’t want to wake the others in the room.

  They’d finally gotten their first night of sleep off the road in a long time and didn’t deserve to be interrupted.

  With school finished, I thought I would have felt more reassured in my powers. And yet, I could only believe this is what most people likely felt. Those same people whose whole lives were spent at Rank 2. Years of trying and practicing until finally, they’d give up, incapable of moving past the barrier presented in their way.

  I wanted to believe I was stronger than all those people, but was I blinded by the speed of my progression? Had I let myself get overconfident because I’d made it into the semi-finals of the tournament? Because we’d beaten the lair in the Everwood? Because I’d been able to fight on par with my friends who were, in their own right, strong and capable.

  Griff seemed like an unpassable mountain when I considered how easily he could beat all of us. Even Albus would have lost to Griff, let alone Uncle Tom, who I could only believe must have been stronger.

  But was I right in comparing myself to D and C Rank Dungeoneers? They were meant to be stronger.

  Taking a step back, I let my mind drift back into a meditative state as I refocused on my own abilities. More Skills would come as I Ranked up, but I needed to work with what I had now.

  Shift Weight was a blessing. With it, I could finally increase specific parts of my body, which would help decrease my Energy expenditure. I’d finally be able to keep my Skills active longer, with little lead-up time to get it working.

  This was a start.

  My mind calmed a bit as I focused on my work for the last month.

  I wouldn’t forget about the dream or the doubt that constantly wracked my brain, but I could at least focus on something productive for now.

  Ignoring the thoughts, I didn’t try to sleep as I set back into my meditation and waited for all my friends to wake up.

  I wouldn’t let my nightmares become a reality.

  *****

  “Can you move over? Your leg weighs a ton,” Cassie complained as she attempted to throw Britta’s leg aside.

  “Consider it our workout for the morning. Lift, two, three, four….” Britta answered, not even opening her eyes. Jen and Trish both laughed as Britta continued to lift her leg, then drop it back down onto Cassie.

  Cassie didn’t look too bothered as she went ahead and tried to hold it down. And she almost did it until Britta seemingly took it as a challenge. Then, grunting in challenge, Britta lifted Cassie’s body right off the ground as she held on for dear life.

  “Yes, I win!” she yelled, jumping up triumphantly.

  “Fine, fine, I’m up,” Zane sat up. I doubted he was asleep, but it didn’t matter as all pretense was gone, and everyone got up from their spots around the room.

  There had only been one bed in the room, which we’d all taken from one of Griff’s kids. Jen and Trish got to the room the fastest, already sitting on a bed. After that, the seven of us, including Noah, all stayed in the room.

  Dad and Elise had left in the night with Lin, Adam, and Holly, eager for a bit more space of their own. Holly had her own apartment in the city. Much smaller than Griff’s since she lived alone, but big enough to accommodate a few extra people.

  Elise hadn’t been eager to leave without me, but after a lot of coxing and promising, we were able to convince her we’d see her tonight.

  And I meant it.

  We’d discussed some plans at dinner, but most of us had been so tired from the trip we hadn’t finalized anything. So, I took the opportunity while everyone was joking around to broach the topic again.

  “So,” I said slowly, earning everyone’s attention. “Do we know what we’re doing today? I know we talked about shopping, but we also need to figure out our status with Prep. Past that, we might check out the Guild or even explore the city.” I offered the options again.

  “I’m good with splitting up. In fact, I plan on it for a bit,” Zane jumped in, standing up as he rolled up his bedroll.

  “Ooh, do I finally get a date!” Cassie cooed.

  For a second, I saw Zane break as his hand slipped. Then, catching himself, he quickly turned to Cassie and smiled. “Sure, that works. So, Cassie and I will be going off on our own for a bit after breakfast. I haven’t been to the Capital in a while, and I want to see how things have changed.”

  “But-“ Jen tried to interrupt but was cut off by Zane.

  “Don’t worry, I know you’ll want me to come with you shopping. We’ll go do that tomorrow. I just want a day or two to myself while we’re here. And with the war coming, who knows what’ll happen.”

  “Okay, but if Zane is heading off, I plan on doing my own thing as well. I don’t know if you’re all forgetting, but I said we’d be training every day, and I meant it. You might all bail for today, but I still plan on getting some practice in,” Britta stated, standing up and stretching.

  “I know it doesn’t impact you guys, but I also really need to go find an alchemist or someone I might work for. You’ll all be off fighting monsters; I really want to do my part. And for that, I need a mentor,” Noah jumped in. I knew he was having a hard time without his brother here. He and Trevor always worked best together, after all.

  “Okay, well, let’s do that then. I was going to say we should start shopping today,” Jen said, glaring at Zane. “But I understand that can wait. I’ll go with Noah since that’ll help us understand what’s available in the shops. Ren and Trish, you’re welcome to come as well. Unless you wanted to go train with Britta,” Jen said, looking at me expectedly.

  While I wasn’t against training, I also knew better to say no when asked directly.

  “Look at him; he’s not going to say no when you look at him like that,” Britta joked. “But promise you’ll join me tomorrow?” Britta stuck out her hand to Jen.

  “Promise,” Jen answered, clasping hands and smiling.

  “I promise also. I don’t want to stop. We just have a lot to do while we’re here,” I answered.

  “You’re acting like we’re all going somewhere….” Trish said, catching glances from the rest of us.

  “I’m planning to stay here. So is Noah. And you’re all too young to join the army for at least a year. I was hoping we could all stay here for at least that long. And then who knows, maybe they’ll stop recruiting by that point,” Trish continued.

  Trish was the smartest among us, and I knew she knew that was wishful thinking, but we’d all been through enough. Jen and Cassie went to hug her, and the rest of us said nothing as we simply nodded at her words.

  I wasn’t planning to go anywhere. Ideally, we’d be able to stay for a while as we made use of the Dungeons nearby. That was the plan, but I’d recently learned that plans could change.

  And sadly, I knew not to get too comfortable when the kingdom could change their mind and send us to war at any point.

  But I didn’t say of this.

  Instead, I nodded my head and let Trish hope for better.

  Like a good friend does.

  Chapter 6 – Alchemist

  “What do you want to get anyway, Ren?” Jen asked as we said our goodbyes to Griff’s family. Zane and Cassie were already gone, while Britta stayed back to eat a bit more.
Pauline, Griff’s wife, had made breakfast for us.

  Griff had looked even more tired than when we’d arrived when he finally came down. So, while Cassie snickered, Pauline had likely kept him up all night. I had a sneaking suspicion it hadn’t been for anything good.

  We left their house and stepped into the streets. We had the day ahead of us, but everything already felt so foreign. When I’d arrived at Krader, I had Zane and the girls to show me around at least. Here, Zane was nowhere to be found, and the modest directions we’d received from Griff and Pauline likely weren’t going to be enough.

  “Terrence?” Jen asked again, noticing I hadn’t been paying attention.

  “Yeah, sorry. Lots on my mind. I don’t know, really. We’ve got some things left to sell before we know how much we have overall. I’d like to get some better armour if I can. I also feel like I need to repair my bracers, but I’ll talk to my dad about that.

  “Past that, we’ll need some energy potions, food, so we’re not always relying on Pauline, a better axe, and a better holster.” I stopped in the street, annoying the people trying to walk behind me. Another series of backpacks. A sustainable source of light. A shield for Britta, armor for everyone else. Will I need or want to buy weights? Where will we stay? We can’t stay with Pauline and Griff forever.

  Is this what it feels like to be on your own? I thought, the responsibility of it all starting to turn my insides.

  “Oh, come on, you’re worrying way too much,” Jen laughed, noticing they’d left me behind again. “Plus, you’re pissing off the other people in the streets.

  “One thing at a time. Zane gave me an idea of what we could sell our orb for.” Jen grabbed my arm and pulled me forward to catch up with Noah and Trish. “We’ll try to sell that and look around while we search for alchemists for Noah.”

  I let myself take a breath. I probably was overthinking things again.

  “Thanks, you’re right. But one thing at a time, let’s go help Noah for now.”