Stumbling Up: A Loser's Guide to Progression - Chapter 63: Hook, Line, and Sinker

I put everything I could into the [Mundane] leap, terror throwing me off the shore. It was my worst nightmare. For a moment I dangled between the boulder and cliff, flying through the gap. My right foot smacked the stone, and I tossed my weight forward, slapping hard against the boulder. My body rebounded, and my feet dipped into the river. I scrambled, trying to gain purchase.

Richard undulated forward, leaving a thick, white slime on my hands as he crawled to safety.

“This isn’t the time for slime!” I yelled at him. Damn slu— the slime glued my hands to the rock. I stopped my frantic scramble now anchored to the boulder.

There, you're safe.

Icy fingers grabbed at my legs as I hung limply.

My foot slipped off the underside of the rock, and I hung limply, pinned by Richard’s slime.

I would hurry. [Glue] won’t hold forever.

Using the leverage I had, I flexed my muscles, pulling my body up. Just as my feet got under me, the [Glue] started to release. I stood carefully. The ridged stone was wet, and the underside had a deep green moss that'd caused my feet to slip. Breathing heavily, I closed my eyes.

It was hard to trust skills when they fizzled like [Mind the Gap].

Skills shouldn't fizzle like that. They should be rock solid. Tandy and I were both having trouble.

You okay, little buddy?

"I'm fine," the audacity of calling me little buddy. I pawed at my backpack. Thankfully, the rod and my gear were safe. It’d only been my face that’d kissed the rock.

With a deep breath, I took a step forward, carefully placing my toeholds, and leaned forward to grip the rock.

I do not know how I'm going to get back to the shore, but that is a problem for future me.

Slowly, ridge by notch, I worked my way up to the top of the boulder. It stuck three meters out of the water, and the top held a scruffy-looking tree that was eking out an existence with its roots melding to the top of the boulder.

I sat hard, swinging my backpack next to me. The scorching breeze formed little tufts of whitecaps. The rest of the world melted in the rush of water, fading into the background. I took in the incredible view, relaxing for the first time in weeks.

"Gorgeous, isn't it?"

I jerked almost losing my seat. Looking down, I saw that the far side of the boulder dropped to a small alcove where a young guy sat in the shade. He'd tossed his own fishing line out into the water.

Oh, for fuck’s sake.

I came out here for some alone time. Well, alone time plus Richard, for whatever that was worth, and this guy had been sitting here fishing the whole time?

"Hi," I didn't bother to hide my disappointment. I couldn't get a good look at the guy; an oversized straw hat covered his face. All I could see was a reed bobbing up and down as he chewed on it.

"I hope you brought bait. There's nothing on this rock to use, and I'm not too keen on sharing what little I've got left."

"I'm good, brought everything I need." Richard had finally made it to the top of the rock, his yellow antenna extending out in front of him, surveying the view.

Silence hung between us. Honestly, I didn't want to continue the conversation, but it was also awkward just ignoring each other. I watched the guy watch his line.

"You catch anything yet?" I started twisting the two sections of my pole together and stringing the thin line between the loops on the rod.

"Ayup, got a stringer attached to my foot. Nothing too big, but I'll be eating well for the next couple of days." The guy hadn't moved a muscle. I squinted and looked at his foot, and I saw that a rough rope was tied around his ankle. That's one way to do it. I hadn't really planned on catching much, but I brought a stringer of my own.

One day I hoped to get one of the fancy extra-dimensional rings for private storage. Today, however, it was a [Mundane] sort of day.

"Good, I'm hoping to catch enough for dinner for my team. This seems like a promising spot." With the line threaded through the loops, I got out the biggest hook in my kit, and holding it out to Richard, I whispered, "Are you sure?"

Richard twirled his eyestalks in the universal sign for rolling his eyes. He didn't even bother saying anything, so I just began looping and firmly tying the hook to the line.

The last thing we needed was for the hook to slip off and send Richard to the bottom of the river. I frowned at the thought: did slugs float? It didn't matter. Losing him in the river wasn't a thought I wanted to dwell on.

None of these ideas seemed wise to me.

With everything set, I looked at my slug. He'd been sunbathing, stretching out, avoiding the small amount of shade the tiny tree cast.

"How do you want to do this?" I whispered, I really didn't want to explain to the stranger that I had a talking fanged banana slug [Companion]. [Owner]. Whatever.

The last [Mundane] that caught me talking to Richard avoided me for the three days we were stuck in Tresseat. Which was hard, because he'd been the mayor that'd hired us for the job.

I mimed sticking the hook in Richard's lip, like I might if I had a minnow I was using for bait. The hook in my hand was ridiculously large, a whole hand-span big, but even so, I wondered if it was big enough to support all of Richard.

He'd gotten chunkier lately.

I heard that. And no, you're not hooking it through my lip, now watch.

I held out the hook and watched as he slithered up and wound his body around the metal. He wrapped once, twice, three times and let his tail section trail off into the air. Richard glowed faintly golden, a sure sign he was using a skill. Slime oozed out of his pores, and it seemed to solidify his body into the shape, locking him into place. His tail waved lazily in the air.

There, that should take care of it.

"Will you be able to breathe?" It was a dumb question. I knew it as soon as it came out of my mouth. He wouldn't have volunteered if he hadn’t had some way to survive.

No, I'm a land mollusk. I can't breathe underwater. I don’t have [Gills] like some sea slugs I know. Before I could protest, he continued. I can, however, hold my breath for several hours. And before you get all worried, I also have a skill that will temporarily grant me [Gills]. So, I'll be safe, not that it matters. I am [Immortal] after all.

The more Richard insisted on his [Immortality], the more I questioned its veracity. I looked up to find my new rock buddy staring up at Richard.

"Is that a banana slug?" The man stood, stretched on his toes to see over the ledge of the boulder. He wasn't very tall. The straw hat he'd been wearing had fallen back onto his back, attached by a leather cord.

I immediately understood why he'd been using it. The guy's skin was puffy and red. He was far beyond a tan. His dark hair was shaggy, hanging in locks over bushy eyebrows. It was shocking he could see. The style made me think of a nearly blind sheepdog we had back home.

"Yes," I said carefully, still unsure whether I should explain what Richard was. Giving too many details to a [Mundane] kid of a certain age led to the reality I was living out. I didn't want to be responsible for that.

“Is he your pet? I didn't know banana slugs existed here.” He watched Richard's tail wave in the wind, then grew suddenly self-conscious. He brushed the hair out of his eyes and gave me a grin.

”Hi, I'm…" he hesitated for a moment, "I'm Ash. You in for the raid?"

I extended my hand. "Cole. And yes, he’s my [Animal Companion]. We got here early, so my team split up to explore on a rare day off."

Ash nodded, his eyes still glued to Richard. My banana slug fascinated the kid.

I like him. He appreciates my natural glow.

I snorted.

Ash looked at me confused, so I explained, "Richard, that's the slug, is enjoying the attention. Not too many folks admire his, uh, look."

"Banana slugs are pretty common where I'm from. I just haven't seen one since I left. It's just nice to run into a piece of home. Are you really going to use him as bait?"

I frowned. This guy didn't have the accent of the mountains.

"Where are you from? You don't sound like you're from the frontier, and I thought fanged banana slugs were local only to the Hellentic Forest."

I let the string go a bit, feeling the weight of Richard. I didn't think we'd need a sinker. The slug was heavy enough. I reeled him up, pulling the hook tight to the tip of my rod, getting ready to cast.

Ash watched, eyes fixed on Richard. "Yeah, no, I'm from Oregon. Different region, pretty far away. Our slugs are not fanged, or sentient." I wasn't familiar with Oregon, but it wasn't like my dad’s map was all-inclusive. The continent was big. There were plenty of places in the world I didn't know about. I tilted my wrist back.

"Richard, are you ready?"

Yes.

With a long, studied snap of my wrist, I cast him out. The line ran from the rod, and everything looked good until a snag caught in the reel. With an utter lack of grace, Richard's momentum reversed, and he swung back towards us, smacking into the bottom of the boulder.

I winced.

Ouch. I thought you knew how to do this?

Ash was trying to be polite, holding back a laugh. I didn't bother, letting the chortle out. The problem was immediately obvious as the line had tangled in the reel mechanism. I started fishing it out, and slowly winding it back in. Richard just hung like a limp slug, bobbing in and out of the water as I worked to untangle everything.

"So, you have a party? You’re one of the [Adventurers] here for the Hunt?" Ash asked, watching me work.

"Yeah, two old friends and a new friend. Plus Richard, if you can count a slug."

I count more than any of you.

"That must be nice." Ash had grabbed the line, holding Richard up so he wouldn’t keep smacking into the wall. I didn't care. I almost had the snag out. The slug had volunteered for this after all.

Ash was glued to Richard. The slug fascinated him.

"You an [Adventurer]? Doing it alone?" He was very good or idiotic. Maybe both. There were many reasons no one tackled dungeons without a team. No build could handle all contingencies.

I swore, the reel had gotten worse.

"Yeah, I'm not the best at delves, but I have a few tricks. Mind if I help?" I nodded. He couldn't make the tangle any worse. "[Mechanical Fix]," Ash muttered a skill, and a blue weave of magic snaked up the line, straightening it out. It even fixed my inept tie to the hook. "Reel it in now. It should be good."

Turning the crank, I found everything was smooth. He'd single-handedly not only untangled the line, but the mechanism was smoother than ever.

Without even thinking about it, I muttered, "Wow, it'd be nice to have you around with that skill."

I looked down at the kid to thank him and immediately realized my mistake. A set of hopeful eyes looked up at me. "Really? You'd take me on?"

Now look what you've done.