Enigmatic Crusade

“There you are,” a voice said, causing Valen to jump a little. He slowly turned to find an armored man standing behind him. It took a moment, but the cracked smile under the helm was slowly recognized. 

“Peter?!” Valen asked, dropping the dirty dishes at his feet. Laughing, he hugged his old friend for what felt like the first time in months. It had been less than a month, but it still felt like a long time. 

Peter laughed as Valen and he embraced for a moment. When he got his fill he calmed down and pulled back, looking at his armored friend. “Where the hell have you been? I thought I would have seen you by now.”

“Eh, doing bitch work,” Peter said with a shrug. “And I can’t take this crap off. I’m even expected to sleep in it.” The heavy armor clinked as if to help enunciate his point. The armor looked overly large and heavy. Thick steel plates were welded together making it very blocky. Used to the sleek and pristine gear from the adventurer’s in his vehicle, the armor looked purposefully ugly to Valen.

“Sleep in it? Is that what the smell is?” Valen teased.

“Ugh, I knew I stunk,” Peter said with a groan. “Come here, help me out of it.” Valen nodded and the bigger man pointed at buckles that needed to be undone. Slowly they were able to get the bulky breastplate off, and the greaves on his legs. The gauntlets came off with more effort than should be required and as soon as all the metal was off, Peter was jumping in the stream beside them. 

They had been on the road for two days by that point. The vehicles, though large, only traveled about 30 miles per hour. Valen didn’t really know or care what that meant because he was too amazed by the sights outside the city. For the first time in his life there weren’t massive buildings around him. Instead there were tall trees and mountains. 

The road they took out of the city was a path carved at the base of a cliff, and winded it’s way slowly from the city. Supposedly the cliff had been formed during Raging’s fight with the wyrm back in the day, but no one confirmed it for him. After the cliff they came to a mountainous area that had massive trees that appeared as tall as mountains. 

But Valen had only caught sight of them at night. Stuck in the vehicle with the higher leveled guild members he sat quietly, listened to conversations, and did what he was told. Each night they stopped so people could rest. Valen was expected to set up tents, help prepare food, and continue his bitch work from back in the city, but this time he was gaining a lot of knowledge. 

High Priest Julian liked to talk while they were driving. It helped him pass the time, and Valen ate up all the information he could. The main focus was on the real ways of the world. The major cities and adventurers in the area. Dungeons and guilds that owned them. Anything and everything was touched on during the trip. Some people even began talking to Valen about their own stories. 

Battles they fought, Rankers they had seen, unique monsters they encountered and tricks they learned to use while fighting them. It was all a trove of information and Valen ate it up. But for the first time since he left on the trip, Valen actually felt like a human being again. It was nerve racking being around so many high level people. The information they gave him was freely given, but deep down he knew that he was nothing to them. They could accidentally kill him with a pat on the back and Julian would get a new favorite bitch of an apprentice. 

So close to Peter though, it was nice to have someone around that he didn’t have to fear. Having been ostracized by the other healer recruits because of Julian’s favoritism, Valen had no one. This was the first moment in, he couldn’t remember how long, that he was near someone that had no ulterior motives or wasn’t by him because they were forced to be. 

“How are you liking warrior training?” Valen asked as his friend continued to scrub every inch of his body with the stream water. Valen picked up the dishes he was cleaning and began washing them again. 

“It sucks,” Peter admitted. “Gotta carry heavy stuff. Do all their crap work. What about you?”

“Same,” Valen said, unsurprised that the orphans were still low on the pecking order. “Gain any levels?”

“Hell no,” Peter said as he came out of the water. With a sigh he sat down completely nude next to Valen. Both were comfortable like this. Baths were rare at the orphanage since every bit of water had to be taken from the well, so they would usually end up bathing at the same time. “Haven’t even used my skill yet. But I’ve been gaining stats.”

“Nice, me too,” Valen said. 

“I regret putting my stats in strength now,” Peter admitted as he flexed his bicep. “Helped me out, but I feel like all the stuff I’ve been moving I might have gained the stats anyway.”

Valen felt a little happy with that. One of the many things talked about in the Behemoth was stat distribution. People talked about the best builds for their class, others denied that the path was correct and the discussion almost came to blows a couple of times. Hank the Tank had to step in at one point to stop Houdini from stabbing someone. 

He had refrained from assigning his own free points because he really didn’t need them yet. By the time he actually started leveling he hoped to be able to have the idea of his own path in place. Since what you chose could affect your future class evolutions, he knew it wasn’t something to go in blindly with. 

“Do you regret it?” Peter asked with a long sigh. 

“Regret what?” Valen asked. 

“Joining up?” Peter said, his voice more weary than Valen had ever heard. Peter was always the excitable and adventure seeking one in their group. It was sad to hear him so beaten down.

“I don’t…” Valen said, confused. He saw some hurt in his friend’s face as if he was holding something back. He wanted to pry more but was stopped as he heard a chittering noise. Both friends looked up as one. They saw the last thing either had expected, a real life monster. 

During their trip across country the expedition had to stop more than once to take care of a few monsters. The front vehicle was the only one that bothered with the monsters, and the fight usually only lasted a few minutes. Then they were off again and traveling once more. At night a few mages set up an array that helped hide their presence from high leveled monsters. Though plenty of people were on guard duty, Valen had been warned that a few might make it close to camp. 

This was his first time seeing a live monster though. It was only about four feet tall. It had a dozen limbs that resembled brown twigs, helping it blend into the tree behind it. Four large antenna poking out of it’s stick-like face, it chittered excitedly as it moved toward them. 

Frozen for a span of a few seconds the duo then looked to the gear at their feet and Valen began to help his friend put the armor back on. “Finally,” Valen said excitedly. One of the many rules he understood of an expedition was first come first serve. If someone found a monster, they were the ones that got to kill it. Inside the city the guild could restrict them, but out in the open world they didn’t care. One less monster sneaking in meant that they were all safer. 

“Help,” Peter grunted as Valen tried to remember where all the buckles went. As a healer his position was to help the tank, and since Peter was the warrior, it only made sense that he would face the monster. Both friends eyed the monster as it continued to come in closer and closer but for some reason Valen wasn’t scared. Having spent so much time in the Behemoth with true high leveled people he could tell that this monster wasn’t anything special. 

“My sword,” Peter said as he began adjusting gear. Valen turned to see it behind them. Running over to it he grabbed the blade and brought it back to his friend. His own mace at his side, Valen was growing more and more excited as he passed the blade to his friend. Both drew their weapons, facing the monster still chittering at them from across the small stream. 

“Ready?” Peter asked. Valen nodded, both of them had been waiting for this their entire lives. Facing a monster like so many others around them had. His thick handled mace in hand he gripped it and was about to charge the monster until a loud voice yelled behind them. 

“Hold!” The voice said. Valen froze in fear for a moment, thinking that one of the higher leveled adventurers had spotted them. Instead it was a boy in heavy armor that Valen recognized. He was behind them about 20 paces and walked up to them confidently. His thick steel breastplate shined in the dim sundown light as he drew the blade from his side. The sword was long, but had immaculate runes etched into the hilt. 

Frozen for a moment, Valen assumed this newcomer wanted to help them. Instead he walked past Valen and Peter, stepped over the stream, and lopped off the head of the monster with a single swing. Bending down without a word he picked up the corpse, opened a small pouch at his side and somehow stuffed the body into the pouch. The twig-like form practically sucked inside of it. 

“Very good,” the boy said with a confident grin. He didn’t say the words to Valen or Peter, more to himself. Then without another word or look at the two of them he walked away. 

“What the fuck?!” Valen roared as the man withdrew as if nothing had happened. 

“Val!” Peter hissed, grabbing his arm, but Valen was too angry. He made a move for the kid. But instead of acknowledging Valen the boy turned and acted like he was seeing him for the first time.

“What?” The stranger asked, annoyed. 

“What the fuck!?” Valen roared louder somehow. “You stole our kill!”

“What?” The boy said. “I did not steal anything.” He said the words as if it were obvious. Then without looking Valen in the eyes he turned and walked away again.

“Wh-” Valen said, brandishing the mace at the back of the boy, but Peter grabbed his arm. 

“Don’t,” Peter said, using his real strength to hold Valen back. Valen tried to fight him, to go after the thief, but Peter was much stronger than the last time they were together. Once the shiny geared boy was gone he began to explain. “That was Lionel Hoffstetter.”

“Hoff…” Valen said with a gulp. In New Rapids, who didn’t know the name of Hoffstetter? Roland Hoffstetter was the city lord and guildmaster of Raging. The strongest man in the area, people talked about him like he was some sort of ghost. Able to kill dragons, fly, and buy everything and everyone in the city if he wished it. “His son?”

Peter nodded grimly. “He got his Class the same day we did, remember?” Valen did remember then. It had been a few weeks, but he distinctly remembered the pompous rich boy with his posse. Talking loudly about his father this, or items that. 

“That still doesn’t excuse…” Valen said weakly but knew it was pointless. Going against a Hoffstetter was like pissing off god himself. If that was his son he probably had the most resources available to him of anyone in the expedition. He studied Peter then. The man had a downcast look in his eyes. “You run into him before?”

“He’s a warrior too…or some rare offshoot of it,” Peter said with a sigh and a shrug. He stepped away from Valen, looking to the stream as he began to pick up the mostly clean plates. “He’s already a full Raging member. But he was assigned to the trainees anyway so he could learn the ropes. Just kind of his punching bag for now as he puts all his work on us recruits that aren’t connected.”

“Fucking hell,” Valen groaned. There were some like that in his own trainees, but none sounded as bad as that kid. Lionel had swooped in, stolen their first monster, and didn’t hardly acknowledge their existence. “What the hell is another monster to him?” He asked. 

“No idea. I heard he’s already level 10,” Peter said with a defeated sigh.

“10?! That’s huge!” Valen said. Most talked about how they could be stuck at a level for months. Yes, the lower levels were quicker, but finding enough monsters around your level was a hard feat for anyone. “God damn, there goes…” He trailed off, trying to let his frustration out. “Typical.” Was all he could muster. Not only would he have to wait for his first bit of essence to gather, but also the next chance he got he would have to go in quickly so no one could steal the opportunity. 

The orphans were quiet for a time. Valen could see that his friend had to deal with that person daily. As if he had expected it to happen. Their excitement from earlier had disappeared, but he didn’t want the reunion to end on a sour note. “What else have you been up to?” Valen asked.

“Just work…” He said with a frown. “I’m in the second Behemoth.” 

“Anyone cool in the car?” Valen asked.

“Yeah, there is this rogue girl who is pretty talkative,” he said excitedly. “She joined up a couple of years ago but was giving me pointers on…” And Peter’s mood got better as they caught up. Peter talked about this or that person he had met. Valen spoke about the cool stories he had heard and what he was learning about essence and skills in the truck as they walked back to camp. 

When they arrived, Peter ran off to take care of his own assignment. Valen put the dishes back in the correct spacial bag. Still very pissed off about the Hoffstetter situation, he knew that whining wouldn’t get him anywhere. It was a first come first serve, and next time he would have to not hesitate. 

Annoyed, he looked around to the camp around them. He had set up large tents for those higher up in the guild. He hadn’t noticed Peter before, but now that Valen knew what armor to look for he spotted him getting yelled at by one of the other warriors. The large Behemoths created a barrier around the camp. Runes from the monster repelling array glowed lightly as he looked at the slowly setting sun across the horizon. 

“Fucking hell,” he mumbled. Sometimes he loved this world he lived in. In nature for the first time in his life he didn’t have to fear for his life. He really was on the adventure of a lifetime. People had fought to get onto this expedition in the new dungeon, but Valen had lucked out since he was willing to do the worst jobs. But somehow he was still shit on. His first kill stolen without any hesitation, it could be weeks before he finally got to use a skill.

“Hell, I really need someone to get hurt,” he said. Looking around, a part of him wished that monsters would attack. Maybe then he could get some actual experience. If he couldn’t level his Body by killing monsters, he could at least level his class. He knew that with his luck though the caravan would be attacked by some raid monster and he would be collateral damage again when the beast swiped its tail and killed him. He wanted levels, but not enough to die for them. 

“Win some and lose some,” he said to himself. No real control over his life he pushed his dark thoughts away. 

He was brought out from his annoyance as High Priest Julian came up to him. “New training for you, come on,” he said and escorted Valen over to the side of the camp. Just passed the Behemoths were other people his age lined up in a row. In front of them was the man that had interrogated Valen the day he was attacked by Faust. 

“For those of you who don’t know, I am the raid leader, Dave,” the man said. He was tall and heavily armored. A short red handlebar mustache on his face the rest of him was clean shaven. He wore a bulky purple tinted armor that glowed slightly in the dim light of the day. The man looked them over one at a time, eventually landing on Valen, but there was no recognition in his eyes. He probably didn’t remember interrogating Valen those weeks ago. 

“All of you are recruits. Lucky you, you get to experience a new dungeon rather than whetting your teeth on a tried and true dungeon, you get the new hot one,” Dave said. “With that we don’t know exactly how many people can go inside. In the coming days as we approach the dungeon, along with your regular duties, you will be doing group training.” 

Those around him began to whisper lowly to one another. Valen too looked at Peter as they locked eyes. Then the Hoffstetter interrupted. “Even me?” The pompous boy asked. He was easily the most geared of all the recruits. Valen wouldn’t be surprised if he was the strongest of all of them by many levels. People around him tensed at his voice, something Valen noted Peter had done as well. Maybe more so than others. Since they were both warriors, did Peter have to put up with a lot from the scion of Raging?

“Yes, all of you. You will be split into teams. Basic group composition is a healer, warrior, and three damage dealers,” Dave said. “You five together, then you…” He began picking groups for them, able to discern easily what classes they each were. 

Valen soon found himself as the healer in the Hoffstetter group. The rich boy still hadn’t acknowledged him, but Valen was doing his best to focus on the raid leader. “We will be doing mock fights for the next hour. Group 1, you are the defenders, group 2 the attackers,” he said pointing at two groups. He then began setting them apart and going through different tactics on how they should approach one another. Training weapons were brought out to limit damage and they were quickly taken through some drills.

The Hoffstetter assigned himself as the leader of their group. Directing everyone where to go, Valen couldn’t help but think how much he would like to be the healer for the guy in a real fight. Could he maybe get away with not healing him? Though Valen didn’t have much power, an opportunity like that was something he wasn’t sure he could pass up. He was a Priest, but he never swore to do no harm. A part of him felt it might be doing his friend some service if he helped get rid of this headache of a human being.