Stumbling Up: A Loser's Guide to Progression - Chapter 27: Bear the Storm

Whatever Richard had planned, he didn't have time to trigger a skill before Tandy came flying out of the tree.

She jumped onto the corrupt guardian's head. That part with the deadly sharp teeth. She clung with her legs on either side of its snout, stabbing with… was that her fabric scissors?

Leo ran forward, swinging his axe into the beast's ribs.

Meredeath looked like death incarnate as she activated her fishnet bracers, blocking a clawed swing aimed at Leo.

My view of the bear was unique. I could see into its ribcage. The legends were true. Instead of a heart, the mechanical bear had an old city bell dangling in a deep miasma of magenta. Magic wrapped around the metal bell, stifling its toll. It had degraded over the years, corrosion freezing it in place, and flakes of rust peeling off runes.

The bear’s body rocked as Leo hit it with another heavy blow.

With a roar, the bear shook hard. Knocking Tandy off its face. She'd lodged her fabric scissors in the beast’s remaining good eye. Clung to a dagger lodged in the neck joint.

The beast clawed at its face, trying to dislodge the scissors from its eye. I grabbed my hammer, raising it high into the bear's chest cavity.

If I could just hit... the bear torqued on its haunches, and my hammer slammed into the bell.

A low, mournful, dissonant twang erupted from the bear as it staggered back. I surged forward, clanking the head of my hammer on the bell again.

A system message popped:

[[Critical Hit]. Weakness identified: [Guardian's Heart].]

As though to emphasize the message, pink lightning erupted, as internal mechanisms in the bear jangled. A burst of energy exploded from its core. Tandy went flying off its back. She landed painfully on the rocky ground.

Leo was by her side in an instant. She waved him off as he tried to pick her up, and instead settled for leaning against him as they moved towards a large tree. I focused on them, ignoring the state of my body.

Warnings and notifications flashed in my vision as I watched them duck behind the old growth. They were safe for the moment. The breath I’d held expelled as the pain rolled in.

My hands and arms were charred. My clothes were singed. The hammer toppled out of my hands as my fingers refused to hold it up. I watched, unable to move, as the head thumped into the dirt next to me. My skin alternated between red and black, and the head of my hammer glowed, looking almost molten against the ground.

Unencumbered, the corrupt guardian brought its claws down towards me.

Time seemed to slow as the deadly claws inched towards my body. Pain was temporary, death eternal. I shifted every sensation into a box I’d evaluate later if I lived.

I grabbed the handle of my hammer and lunged forward. I would put all my strength into one more hit. Ring the bell one last time.

[Peel]!

My foot slipped dramatically, spilling me backwards.

"Damn-it, Richard!" Why couldn't he just give me the win?

Two paws clapped together in the space I vacated. The thunderous crack of an executed skill reverberated in my bones.

Electrical discharge forked through the air. The hair on my arms stood on end as the ball of lightning grew.

You might want to move. Quietly.

Between an earlier hit and Tandy's scissors, the corrupt guardian was blind. Another bolt of energy zig-zagged, striking a stump a foot to my left.

This wasn't a normal skill, but it stunk of magic. Of the ether that broke the natural laws and boundaries of skills.

I moved, crab walking backwards towards the stump. Lightning never strikes twice in the same place, right? My skin was hot and tight, protesting every move.

The guardian moved its paws further apart, and the ball of energy grew. Lightning sparked in its eye sockets and between its ribs. The smell of ozone filled the air.

Each movement was a testament to the force of my will. My focus was singular, reaching the stump. My mind was fixated on the idea of it being safe. Lightning wouldn't strike twice. The old adage repeated in my head.

The bear’s head slowly tilted down, as though it could see me. Twin balls of energy sat in each eye socket. It grinned at me, energy dancing between serrated teeth.

Suddenly I realized a fundamental truth of the universe: Spells and monsters didn't give a fuck about old wives tales.

A fork shot out as I moved, splitting my legs. The energy hit between my knees in the middle of the stump. Shit! With my future progeny at risk, I scrambled backwards. Ched came out of nowhere, giving me a helpful hand up.

He pulled me behind a tree as the former guardian’s power output increased. For some reason, it seemed rooted in the spot.

The five of us huddled between two trees on either side of the path. The bear watched us as we watched it, lightning shooting out indiscriminately.

"What do we do now?" Leo's voice was low, and the sleeve of his sweater was singed.

I looked at Tandy; she always had a plan. I could see the whites of her eyes. Her jump to the bear had been incredibly risky. I think she was still in shock that she’d done it.

"Cole's hit was working. The weak spot was the bell, that's what sparked off whatever this is," Meredeath waved at the bear as a bolt shot through Tandy's webbing, exploding a third of her trap in a split second.

"Yeah, it gave me a [Critical Hit]. One or two more of those, and it'll be done," my mouth raced as fast as my mind. How were we going to get close enough to deliver another hit?

The bear's fur stood on end now, little bolts dancing between bone and cog and clump of flesh. The smell of burnt meat drifted across the ridge.

This was fucked up. There was no way we were going to get closer to the beast.

The fur around its eyes had begun to change from a grizzled brown to white. The energy increased as it widened its paws again.

"Whatever we're going to do, it needs to be soon." Another zap exploded a tree in a shower of splinters. I continued, "I don't know why it hasn't just finished us."

Meredeath frowned, "I just assumed the skill couldn't be activated when moving." We looked at each other for a moment. It made sense. It was building up power to do something.

"Richard, what do you think?" Where was Richard? I peeked from behind my tree. Nothing.

I knelt and peeked for a longer look.

He wasn't where I'd slipped on him. I didn't see any slime path away from the corrupt guardian. Squinting at a flash, I scanned the forest floor. Where was my damn slug?

I closed my eyes, willing [Partial Rapport] to work. I opened my eyes to the feeling of a slight tug towards the bear.

"I see him," Meredeath said. She’d joined me behind the tree, pressed tight, trying to squeeze close enough to leave no target for the beast’s magic. My breath caught as she shifted, pressing her chest against my back as she tipped her head around my body to look at the bear. Her fingers gripped my wrist, dragging me forward as she pointed.

"Do you see him?" She said, in awe. I winced as her fingers dug into my burnt arm.

Confused, I squinted into the harsh light of the spell. Between flashes, I caught a glimpse of yellow between two of the bear’s ribs.

"What the hell?" What was he doing?

Meredeath pulled us both back under cover as a strike shot out in our direction. Her breath was hot against my ear as she answered my unspoken question, "He's going to disrupt the spell." I shivered, goose bumps running down my back.

I leaned out, trying to confirm her assumption. A bolt ricocheted within the bear. Richard glowed as he was struck. The lightning burst passed right through his boneless body. My vision burned with the afterimage of a slug imprisoned by lightning-soaked ribs.

I blinked a few times, my eyes watering. Staring at the corrupt guardian, I had to ask, "Is Richard glowing?" Maybe he was a glowworm after all.

Meredeath didn't answer. I looked back at the empty spot next to me. My arm still ached where she’d squeezed it.

She was gone.

My frantic search ended abruptly as I caught sight of her slinking towards the bear.

Lightning danced in the shiny surface of her boots as I watched her agilely move forward. Her forearm was flexed, holding my hammer, its head still glowing from my original strike.

I fingered the loop where my hammer should have rested.

A fork of lightning struck the tree Ched had been hiding behind. The man shrieked as he fled. Meredeath hadn't paused as she crept forward, tracking towards her goal. Richard glowed, I could almost hear his slime bubbling as energy surrounded his body.

Tandy, Leo, and I were frozen watching the scene as our guardians took on the corrupt ancient sentinel.

An arc struck out for Meredeath, missing as she rolled to the right. Her feet moved and froze, and shifted as though she could see lines of energy invisible to us. Richard climbed higher, towards the bear's heart. His yellow form stood out in a golden radiance against the angry pink.

Meredeath was almost within range. The bear tilted its head, and two bolts shot from its eyes. My jaw clenched as I watched. These bolts were unavoidable.

Meredeath crossed her forearms. A magical shield popped into view, deflecting the attack. The bear shifted, and a paw lashed out, backhanding her. Meredeath hadn't expected the move as she went flying. Her shield shimmering out of existence. One of her fishnet bracers sparked angrily, its enchantment broken.

Grinning maniacally, our teammate got to her feet and moved faster towards the towering beast. Her hair stood on end as though she were a vengeful goddess. She ducked below a clawed paw, swinging my hammer not towards the bell, but the glowing ball of energy in front of the bear.

"No!" Tandy yelled, starting to run towards Meredeath.

Leo roared as he raised his axe with both hands and threw it at the bear. The enchanted axe sang as it whipped end over end towards the beast.

Tandy was too late. Leo's axe was too late. Meredeath had already arrived.

Reality exploded.