Chapter 27

When to Lead

Four days. Four sleeping masters. We fought a giant mask that spewed insects, then a pair of giant hands, a pair of giant rotting feet, and then a ball of chomping jaws and chopping teeth. Twenty giant jaws had been formed into a massive sphere and it was the toughest sleeping master to beat. I’d been forced to keep up shield after shield because it rolled at us non-stop. Brute force had laid it to rest. Now we sat around a single torch for a few hours of respite.

I’d taken leadership of our party. My strategies were working. Yes, I’d had to adapt several times, but those adaptations worked. The hardest part had been to get Robern to listen to me. I’d come a long way since starting out with nothing but healer’s dust, following warriors and anciennes into battle. I’ve learned a lot of lessons so far. Learned from a lot of people. One in particular.

I've got one person to really thank for inspiring me. For influencing me. You’ve made a deep impact on me, Samantah. The way you took charge when we fought the bandits has really left a mark on me. Until crawling with you, I guess I always felt like all healers did was stay in the background and used their spells and items as others took charge. It was eye opening to have battled alongside you as you took charge. I aspire to do the same. It’s not easy, that’s for sure. How do you deal with people like Robern? Even though he apologized, I can’t help but still feel wary. I have to be honest, I don’t trust him.

The problem is, I don’t know how to be a leader. Do I just take command and lead with an iron fist? Do I tell everyone that we’re doing things a certain way and there’s no room for negotiation? I don’t want to lead by force. How did you do it, Samantah? How did you convince Seeud, Allmeer, and Jorge to follow your leadership, especially in a boss fight?

“Deep in thought again?” Arris asked after coming over to sit beside me.

I turned my attention to him and took the apple he offered. Torchlight flickered on his face and clothes. Blue light from two Elder Azure Mana Totems glowed in his hair, and the leathers of his clothes.

“Thanks,” I said. “Yea, I’ve been considering a lot of things lately.”

“Like, when will this tunnel finally end?”

“Ha, yea. Actually, I’ve been thinking about someone I dungeon crawled with when I went to Klayvale. She was a healer who led us into battle, and I’m starting to realize how much I learned from her.”

“Oh yea? What did you learn from her?”

“When to take charge.”

That was the key. Samantah knew the difference between taking charge, and when to take charge.

“Oof,” Arris said, then lowered his voice. “That’s a tough one, given our situation.” He shifted his eyes sideways to indicate Robern, who was across the tunnel, sleeping soundly. “At least he apologized, and he’s started working as a team with us.”

“Yea…”

“I sense a hesitation.”

“I’m wary of him. He’s kind of like a wild card. I’m worried he’s going to accidentally put us in unnecessary danger. He just doesn’t seem to consider that his actions have consequences. Pelle almost fell into a trap Robern could have protected her from.”

“Oh, no doubt about it. It feels like he forgets that other people are counting on him, sometimes.”

“ I think I know what I need to do,” I said. “I need to let him lead.”

“I don’t know about that, Tosin. Didn’t you just say he has a knack for putting us in danger?”

“That’s what he needs to learn, and fast, before something unfortunate happens.”

“I don’t like it. Things have been easiest with you taking leadership.”

“I agree, and I won’t be afraid to step up when the time comes. Until then, I’m going to let the party decide what to do. The first thing I’m going to do is talk with Robern. I’m going to lay things on the table and be real with him.”

After talking with Arris some more, I was able to cultivate enough mana crystals to refill my mana bar nearly all the way. It took a few hours of my time, and I was a bit tired after sitting there for so long. While everyone was packing up to continue our journey once more, I decided to take a short walk away from the party with Robern. He grumbled, then acquiesced and followed me some meters away where we could talk in private.

“Listen Robern,” I said. “I have a confession.”

“Alright,” he said. “Let’s hear it.”

“Remember when you led us through the corridor with all the traps?”

“Yea. What about it?”

“I didn’t trust you. Or rather, I trusted that you wouldn’t be very careful. I had Arris’s spider help protect us from falling into traps.”

“Wait, wait, wait. You thought I couldn’t lead us around all those traps?”

“That’s right, but I was correct. I saw Arris’s spider save Pelle from almost stepping to her death.”

“That’s messed up man. You don’t trust me at all, do you? Did everyone else know about that?” I nodded. Rober scoffed, then said, “I know we’ve butted heads a few times, but that’s low, Tosin. I know I made some mistakes. I even apologized to you!”

“Arris’s spider saved Pelle’s life,” I said.

“What do you want from me?” Robern said, his voice raising in frustration.

This is it. This is the only chance I have to really talk soul to soul with him. I need to be very careful how I phrase this. If I tell him that he needs to step up and be more careful, he’s going to feel like I’m criticizing him. If I tell him that I want him to lead more, he’ll feel like I’m treating him like he’s lesser, like I’m handing down life lessons as though I’m better than him.

“You have my full trust,” I said. “That’s why I’m having this conversation with you. That’s why I’m confessing to you right now. I want you to be the one who saves Pelle’s—or anyone else’s life—when you’re leading the way. I want you to be more conscious of the party when we follow you around traps. I want you to consider the party before you rush into battle. Remember when you shot the first sleeping master and we were caught off guard?”

“Get to the point!” Robern said, clenching his fists and glaring at me.

“Going forward, I’m putting all my trust in you. I’ve seen you in battle. I’ve watched you lead us. I’m asking that you be mindful of your actions. I’ve been making mistakes too. I went about things the wrong way when I didn’t tell you about Arris’s spider because I’m still learning how to be part of a team.”

Robern unclenched his fists. It looked like he wanted to say more, but the words were stuck in his throat. He glared at me before turning back to the party and walking away.

That was tough. Hopefully our conversation will stick with him for some time. I’m hoping he’ll consider what I said and think twice when taking action. If he didn’t feel responsible with our lives before, maybe now he would. He might be upset for a bit, but I really don’t see him as someone who would purposefully sabotage his teammates. I hope my trust is well placed.

As Robern led us forward, checking for traps, I could see that the gears of his mind were turning. I think the others felt that he was preoccupied, and we mostly traveled in silence before finally arriving at the beginning of the fifth dungeon.

The stone dungeon tunnel ended abruptly, dumping down into a smaller tunnel of raw, deep earth. Heat waves buffeted us from the darkness ahead. There was a wooden sign pressed into the earth of the wall.

“Nest of Humpback Grapplers. Level 4,” Filo read aloud.

“Everyone ready?” Lep said. We all nodded. “Alright Robern. Lead the way.”