Stumbling Up: A Loser's Guide to Progression - Chapter 25: Corruption

The system banished Richard and, by consequence, me from the library abruptly. My heart panged in grief with the knowledge-filled stacks evaporating before my eyes as I was violently sucked into a portal.

Before I could worry, we were both ejected in a tumble from the gate on Bear Ridge.

Richard squeaked as he hit the rocky ground, rolling as he slid like a sea cucumber in the tide. I staggered out. My boots were slipping on the hard rock slab. My stomach lurched with portal sickness, and I threw up.

You've got to find a better way of greeting me.

It wasn't like I'd aimed for Richard. Projectile vomit just happens.

Richard slithered out of my blast zone, glowing yellow with his [Clean] skill as the evidence of my sin melted away.

Now that my stomach was satisfied, I looked around to ascertain how much time had passed.

The ruins were as I remembered, granite stairs outlined by the stone ribs of buildings. Only low stone outlines remained where buildings once stood. This time, however, a green fog snaked out of the portal, shrouding the city in ominous shadows.

The hair on the back of my neck bristled as I saw Leo and Ched standing next to each other, weapons brandished. Leo's pink sweater flapped in the wind. It was ripped in a dozen places with blood oozing into the fabric. Ched wasn't much better. He held a frying pan and a paring knife. Blood dripped down his arm.

Before them was an enormous, magic-infused mechanical bear. It glowed a malevolent pink. Radiating rage and hunger, the bear’s head turned to regard me.

It was one of the infamous Guardians of the Wall. 'Was' is the crucial signifier. The once glorious guardian, whose heart-forged bell comforted me as a child, stood before me, rank with corruption. Every picture of the bears painted them in blues and greens, the colors of magic.

The bear foamed at the mouth like a rabid fox. The heart of the guardians, the wide bell that sounded out warnings across the Ursine Wall, sat frozen. It was laced in a filament of rust and magical decay, bound deep in the metal rib cage of the beast.

It smelled of undeath. Muscle and fur had been replaced by meat and bones. Jagged fusions of biological and mechanical parts screamed of abomination.

This bear was not defending anyone from corruption. It was death incarnate.

Metal claws eight inches long dripped red.

Frozen, I stared at the amalgamation of death and horror. A nightmare incarnate.

It roared, hot, fetid breath filling the glade. It stunk of carrion rotting in the sun.

It’s malice floated in the air. Flashes infiltrated my mind: Fish floating dead on a poisoned lake and flowers snapping closed over bees. I shivered at the creeping hatred of humans and life.

I reached for my sturdy hammer. The cold iron of its head was reassuring in my hand as I unclipped it. My hands found the leather-wrapped handle.

Ominous red eyes glowed with intelligence. Its jaw held together with tenuous bands of muscle.

"What did you guys do? I was only gone for five minutes." I asked, scooping Richard up as I neatly sidestepped the contents of my stomach.

Notifications blinked in my mind, but I dared not break eye contact with our foe.

"Glad you finally decided to join us. Is Meredeath behind you?" Leo coughed. He was panting, as though they'd been fighting for hours. How long had it been?

"Why isn't it charging at us yet?" I slowly stepped forward, joining them. “Meredeath is dead.”

She’d died protecting Tandy. I hadn’t had time to think about it, to feel it.

“Oh,” Leo said, the syllable low and sad. My eyes on the monstrosity in front of me, I wished I had the luxury to mourn our friend.

Leo looked even worse close up. A massive bruise was forming over the left side of his face. Ched, on the other hand, looked terrified. His hand shook as he held the frying pan. He'd taken several hits, his leather armor in tatters.

"It doesn't seem to want to attack, as long as we face it," Leo murmured out of the corner of his mouth. "Make yourself big, like I am with my axe, and whatever you do, don't look away."

I squared off against the corrupt guardian, trying to hold its gaze. Pink foam oozed out of its mouth as it watched us. Red eyes shifted back and forth between the three of us, as though trying to assess who was the weakest and strongest.

"Where's Tandy?" I squinted. Was the blood on its claw Tandy's? And the pink tint around its mouth?

Rage and panic warred as I took a step toward the beast. She couldn’t be dead. I began bargaining with every god I could name.

I scanned the ruins and countryside, searching for Tandy. She had to be here, alive.

This was a mistake.

The beast had found the weakest target and charged me with a roar.

"Cole, run!" Leo shouted, pushing me as he stepped forward.

I turned heel and ran. The ruins surrounding us were old. Worn granite foundations, with foot-tall remnants of walls. I fell down the crumbling stairs and started running through the blueprint of the ancient city.

I ran, tripping over the ridge of a wall remnant. The bear had barreled between Leo and Ched, knocking them both aside as it focused on me. Its hot breath spurred me on.

Hurdling a half wall, I stumbled, landing awkwardly on a foot. My ankle ached, but I had no time to baby it.

Moments later, the corrupt monster barreled through the wall. Rock and debris peppered my back as I kept running.

Legs pumping, my feet slapped hard on the granite as I focused on the tree line thirty yards away. I took another obstacle, the base of a broken pillar, and leapt forward, landing at a sprint. The bear ran through anything in its way.

Run faster!

"Fine words, coming from a slug." I gasped, hurdling another half wall.

Richard bit my ear. I stumbled as he tugged.

To the right, you overgrown monkey!

He pulled at my earlobe like an overcorrecting auntie.

To the right sat short tufts of alpine grass. A small deer track wound down to the alpine lake. Crystal clear water reflected pillowy clouds and a sunny day.

I followed Richard's suggestion. If I were going to die, at least he couldn't claim that I hadn't followed his directions.

I ran. No time for questions.

Bear claws scraped against rock behind me. It left deep furrows in the rocks with each heavy foot.

The warning bell I'd taken comfort in my whole life rang dissonantly as the former guardian chased me.

Duck! Richard screamed in my mind.

I dived forward, as the snap of teeth filled the space formerly occupied by my head. The bear stumbled as it missed.

I somersaulted, landing back on my feet.

Looking ahead, I saw what Richard had seen. A brief glimpse of auburn hair.

Tandy sat halfway up a tree. From her perch, I could see the faint glint of a spider web crossing the path.

Except it wasn't a spider’s web, it was Tandy’s. She'd set a version of our ‘goblin’ traps we'd made as kids.

Renewed with hope, my legs pumped harder, knowing they had to get a little further. Sprinting, I gained enough ground to dive between the two large aspens hulking next to the path.

I ducked through, thanking the Everbear for Tandy. As I ducked below the trap, her filament almost invisible in the sun, the bear slammed into the webbing. Headfirst, it shook the trees as it roared. Tandy whooped, scrambling down from her spot to join me.

The guardian pawed at the filament, it’s eyes boiled in rage as it tried to detangle itself.

It staggered back on its haunches. The fur on its face pulled back grotesquely. One of its mechanical eyes bulged out of the socket, no longer growing. The pink magic fueling its rage pulsed angrily as the beast shook its head.

It'd taken a hit, but a pulse of magic leaked through the scraps of fur holding it together. The bear suddenly grew larger.

Leo appeared almost out of thin air, the green fog enshrouding us hiding even him. His axe whistled as he sliced down. The enchanted weapon bounced off the bear's back, doing minimal damage.

The bear expanded again. I realized it was no longer trapped in Tandy’s webbing, it was simply triggering some skill. It’s teeth elongated, as the bear’s skull grew. This just wasn’t fair.

"We need to get into the forest. I can set more [Invisible Thread]," Tandy said, pulling at my hand.

"Go," I pushed her behind me. "I'll get Leo."

The corrupted guardian turned, bell clanging loudly as it fixed an eye on us. It stood, almost twice its initial height. Its barrelled chest was now broader than the portal itself. The bear had doubled in size, and its roar rattled my bones.

Hatred boiled in its gaze. I'd never felt such concentrated emotion. It hated me more than my ex-girlfriend. More than Tandy’s grandmother, who thought I was a bad influence. It hated with an intellect that stripped my humanity from me.

The beast completely ignored Ched and Leo. They banged on its sides inconsequentially, irritable flies to be dealt with later. I was its mortal enemy for some unknown reason.

I fell back, my feet slipping on the loose shale of the hillside.

The bear hit Tandy's trap again, rage blinding it to logic. I turned, grabbing at a juniper to pull myself back up.

My hammer seemed a pitiful weapon next to the bear’s gnashing teeth.

Throw me at it!

I ignored my slug as I tore across the clearing. Tandy needed time to get another trap set, so I took a wide arc, trying to lead the bear away.

My breath heavy, I responded to Richard, "You can't do anything to a nine-foot-tall, corrupt bear!"

You underestimate me.

Fuck it. I turned and grabbed Richard by the tail. With a grunt, I hurled him like an overripe banana into a nightmare.

I didn’t even bother looking to see if I hit. If the idiot were immortal, he'd live. I kept running.

You missed! Can't you do anything right?

Thankfully, his voice faded as the distance between us increased.

The ruins were back in sight. Tandy had scaled another tree and was waving her hands in the air. She still wasn’t ready. Leo had been ineffectual, and Ched was a wallflower. It was up to me to stall for time.

Malyc stood before the gate, frozen. He was utterly committed to the magic of the portal. The portal’s magic glowed green, pulsing with the fog that billowed through the gateway’s base.

A flash entered my head, of me sending the guardian into the [Trial Dungeon]. It might just work.

I bee-lined for the arch and Malyc. I didn’t know why the man kept it open, but this may be my chance.

My feet took the stairs two at a time. Breath came in large gasps. I just had to get it there. My ankle ached, swollen, but I didn’t let it stop me. I was almost there.

The heat of the bear’s hate whipped me forward. I imagined the foaming, bloodstained drool dripping on me as its mouth closed over my body. I wasn't dead yet.

I sprinted towards Malyc. His eyes were wide, but he kept the portal key linked to the arch. The portal had turned a liquid green-silver that reflected the peaceful sky.

As I got closer, I could see my reflection. Did I look that afraid?

Then the bear came into focus. Teeth snarling at my reflection, at me. My back itched.

Four yards, three. Air came in gasps as I skid to a stop, watching the mechanical horror leap through the air. Its chest puffed out, as though bloated on magic.

I should have been afraid, but I wasn't. My legs poised to roll.

I jumped sideways. The portal shimmered.

Meredeath's weary visage began forming as she materialized on our side of the portal. Red lips, pale skin, winged eyes. Her skull amulet sat between the leather chest plates.

Oh shit.

The reflection of the bear towered in the reflection behind her.

She was alive!

But oh so dead. Time froze as I dived; my last glimpse was horror on my friend's face.