BT - Book 1 - Chapter 73

“I’m not sure how I feel about a breastplate,” Drekt frowned slightly as he stood in line outside the restaurant with Trevor and Micah.  “I generally fight bare chested.  It feels dishonorable and constraining to hide behind flimsy layers of steel and cloth.”

“I’ve seen how you fight,” Micah chuckled.  “You’re more or less a nudist.  If you had an agility based build I think I could see it, but when you get going you don’t even try and dodge.  If you’re just going to grit your teeth and ignore people stabbing you, we’re going to need more than a couple layers of ‘flimsy steel and cloth.’”

“I’m not sure,” Trevor grinned, slipping an elbow into Micah’s side.  “Maybe we should let him fight shirtless.  That sounds like it would be… interesting.”

Micah sighed, trying to ignore some of the perplexed looks from other people in line.  The Jolly Porker wasn’t exactly high cuisine, but it was one of Drekt’s favorite taverns, and at some point it had become the trio’s de facto meeting spot.  Ordinarily, it wasn’t terribly busy, but usually the three of them weren’t trying to get a table around tinder time.

“No,” Micah interjected before Drekt could accept Trevor’s support.  “I’m the one in charge of fixing up any injuries, and I have better things to use my mana on than wounds you earn due to your stubborn pride.  Either you learn how to dodge or you wear the armor.  Your choice Drekt.”

“I’ll wear the armor,” Drekt responded, a note of unhappiness in his voice.  “Your words make sense even if they seem cowardly.”

Micah snorted.  Drekt might only have a trickle of Durgh blood running through his veins, but the man could be just as stubborn given half a chance.  He liked the big man’s intelligence and dry humor, but it shouldn’t even be a question that someone fighting in front lines needed to defend themselves.

His former team leader’s mind might be keen and overflowing with strategies, but that didn’t stop it from having a huge blind spot where self preservation was concerned.  As far as Micah could tell, Drekt didn’t even care if he died so long as the battle was glorious enough.  Courage might be admirable, but recklessness was something he wanted beaten out of a teammate.

“You always could start working on your agility,” Micah teased, smirking at the petulant giant.  “There’s plenty of room on Trevor’s obstacle course for you to run it with him.  Plus, even if you can’t improve an attribute through exercise, there’s something to be said for honing the mental side of your reflexes.  Even fifty points in agility don’t really mean much if you don’t know how to use them.”

“Why fumble with your obstacles and toys when I can simply charge through them?” A hint of a smile tugged at the corner of Drekt’s lips.

At least he was joking now, Micah did his best not to snort as the thought ran through his head.  The big man had been sulking ever since Micah had purchased the breastplate and chain arm guards for him.

Of course, Trevor wouldn’t even go into the store for fear of seeing Claire.  Given Micah’s luck, it shouldn’t have surprised him that Claire ended up as the clerk checking him out.  So there he’d ended up, making awkward small talk with his brother’s ex girlfriend while a dark giant pouted behind him.

“Silver party of three,” a young woman’s pleasant voice rescued him from his musings.

For a second, no one moved until Micah pointedly elbowed Trevor.  He was still visibly too young to lead the excursion, so Trevor, as Drekt’s ostensible mentor, had been made the public face of their gatherings.

Trevor glanced at him in confusion before his eyes lit up and he approached the waitress.  Sometimes Micah wondered how his brother made it out of bed in the morning without injuring himself or offending someone.

They were seated in less than a minute at a table in the corner of the crowded pub.  They’d barely managed to wedge themselves into the somewhat rickety seats when another waitress approached.

“Hi boys,” her voice was tired and her appearance harried.  There were bags under her eyes and it looked like she hadn’t brushed her hair in a week.

“My name is Marlene and I’ll be your waitress for the afternoon,” she continued, enthusiasm forgotten after the tenth customer had pinched her ass while she was carrying food.  “Today’s specials are herb roasted chicken, and battered cod with a roll.  Meals come with a drink.  If you don’t want a meal we have soup and pastries.”

“What kind of herbs do you use on the chicken?” Micah asked politely.

She stared at him blankly before shrugging in disinterest.

“Herbs,” She replied.  “Some of ‘em are brown, but most are green.  So, what’ll it be?”

“What are the drink options?” Trevor asked before Micah could put his order in.  “Is there any sort of upcharge if we order juusht?”

“Beer or Wine,” She frowned at Trevor.  “Good juusht is extra.  The stuff we use for cleaning the bar after everyone goes home is the same price.  Are you ready to order or should I go to another table?”

“I will take the cod and the quality juusht,” Drekt answered.  “I would appreciate it if you provide a little extra butter with the roll.”

The waitress grunted, not writing anything down.  There was an off chance she had a blessing related to remembering orders, but Micah suspected that she just didn’t care.

“I’ll take the chicken and the cheap juusht,” Trevor winked at the waitress.  Micah had given up on trying to keep him in line. At this point, he suspected that his brother couldn’t stop himself from flirting.

“If you could get me the chicken and a water I would appreciate it,” Micah smiled at her.  “More importantly, don’t bring my brother a juusht.  He can’t handle his liquor and I’d hate to force you to clean up the table and floor.”

“One cod, two chickens, a good juusht, a beer, and a water,” she repeated the order back to them, ignoring Trevor’s objection.  I’ll have that to you as soon as it’s ready and I feel up to it.”

“Do you think you’re ready for another dungeon run?” Micah asked Drekt, ignoring Trevor’s sputtered complaints.  “You’re fully healed, but my spells can’t do much for mental strain.  Even if your hit points are topped off, I don’t want you to lose focus in the middle of a fight and slip up.”

“A valid concern,” Drekt nodded gravely.  “It’s still a bit uncomfortable to have to hide behind Trevor and the deer-”

“Telivern,” Micah interjected, his eyes ranging over the noisy gaggles of patrons filling up the Jolly Porker.

“Yes,” Drekt agreed, accepting the correction.  “Telivern.  I understand that I am much lower level than the two of them and that assisting in the kills of more powerful monsters is the quickest way for me to make up that gap, but it does little to help us integrate as a team.  I am dead weight and the two of you simply make up the slack.  If I had to fight in the front line, neither of you would know how to read my movements and predict my actions.”

“Don’t worry big man,” Trevor laughed, slapping Drekt’s shoulder playfully.  “I’ll keep you safe long enough for you to level up so you can return the favor.”

“I… appreciate it,” Drekt let his mask crack, allowing a small amount of emotion to bleed into his voice.  “I just see the way you two fight and it’s like you can read each other’s minds.  When Trevor moves forward, Micah steps into the gap he creates.  It’s like watching a ballet.  I worry, even when I am strong enough to keep up with the two of you that we won’t be able to move with that kind of easy freedom.”

“You’ll get there Drekt,” Trevor responded, smiling back at the bigger man.  “Honestly, it took almost a year of me practicing every weekend with Micah before we got to the place we’re at.  Even then, most of it is him keeping an eye on me and accommodating my actions.  I’m still working on the situational awareness needed to keep track of a partner during the chaos of battle.  It’s getting better, but there’s a reason we keep hitting lower leveled dungeons without the Luoca.”

“You’re forgetting the part where getting you to practice was like pulling teeth,” Micah chided his brother playfully.  “I swear to the Sixteen Drekt, I had to literally kidnap him and force him to train.  As in use magic on him within the walls of Basil’s Cove to stop him from running off and doing something stupid instead.”

“Hey,” Trevor protested, his cheeks and the tips of his ears flushing crimson, “once you made it clear exactly what the stakes were I threw myself into training.  It might have taken me a month or so to figure things out, but it’s not like I’ve been slacking off.”

“That’s true,” Micah agreed, pausing as their waitress returned.  She efficiently placed their food and drinks on the table before leaving with a disinterested grunt.

Trevor took a sip of his beer in dissatisfaction.  Micah knew from experience that the Jolly Porker’s house beers were fairly good, but instead Trevor insisted on juusht.  By now, Micah knew exactly how the night would end if he let that happen.  With Trevor face down in an alley in a puddle of his own vomit.

At one point Micah had been content with letting Trevor ‘learn his lesson on his own.’  Given the volume of his complaints the morning after drinking juusht, Trevor had thought that it would only be a matter of time before his brother came back to reality and stopped overindulging in the vile liquid.

But it kept happening.  Trevor could drink beer or wine and stay reasonable, but there was just something about the hard liquor that brought out his impulsive and self-destructive side.  Maybe there would be time to indulge in that once the Durgh threat was over, but as far as Micah was concerned, if Trevor couldn’t control himself, Micah would do it for him.

“Now that you’ve been with us for a week or two Drekt,” Micah began as soon as their waitress was out of earshot.  “I just wanted to make sure that everything was moving forward smoothly.  We want you to level up, not burn out.”

The big man put a forkful of fish into his mouth, chewing thoughtfully as he mulled over Micah’s word.  Finally he set his cutlery back on the table and steepled his hands.

“I think I’ve been fairly straightforward with my concerns,” he began, speaking slowly and choosing his words carefully.  “Your directions as team leader make sense.  I need levels before I can fight in the front line, and if I’m fighting in the front line I need to be well enough armored that I don’t occupy all of our healer’s attention.  That would be true even if our healer wasn’t our most powerful spellcaster and melee combatant.”

“Still,” Drekt placed his hands on the table, his attention fully on Micah.  “I’ve heard the two of you refer to someone or something called a Luoca a couple times now.  If you could clarify the situation, I would appreciate it.”

“That was the next step,” Micah replied affably.  “Now that you’ve gotten a bit used to things, it’s time to increase the intensity.  I have a summoned creature that will help us clear higher level dungeons. That creature, a Luoca, can be a bit disconcerting.  I wanted to make sure you were used to Trevor and I before I introduced the two of you.”

“I am hard to shake Micah,” Drekt answered with a dry laugh.  “It will take a little more than some slavering beast for me to doubt your purpose and resolve.”