Ultimate Level 1

“Do you have to go?” Stacy asked as she watched Caleb continue packing his backpack. “You could wait another year and then I could come with you.”

Caleb kept his face toward his backpack and stuffed the clothes he had rolled up into it.

Gods, she is getting needy.

Putting on a smile, he turned and moved to where Stacy was, wrapping his arms around her and drawing her close.

“You know I can’t. The opportunity to join the group from this year's Choosing Day is not one I can miss. If I don’t go, there is no telling how long it will be until another group comes that I could join,” he said, kissing her on her forehead. “We both knew this would happen and now, with the pressure from the advisors and how people treat your family…”

Caleb stopped when he heard Stacy begin to start crying again.

“Listen,” he said, his voice firm as he held her at arm’s length from him. “I have to go. I’ll be back before Choosing Day next year and will cheer for you. When you get your adventuring skill, we can both leave this town and go anywhere we want! I can help you get stronger.”

Stacy nodded, wiping away the tears that had fallen.

She was still crushed by what had happened to her brother. When the advisors reported they found his body, it was hard to believe. It couldn’t have been him, she thought, but somehow, doubt still crept in.

Her mother was having a hard time and had not worked since that day. Her dad was gone most of the time, having to care for all their sheep by himself if she wasn’t there.

The only time she felt alive was when Caleb and she were together, and now… with him leaving.

“I understand,” she whispered, looking at the smile he was giving her. “It’s just so lonely. No one in town wants anything to do with us.”

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Giving her shoulders a squeeze, Caleb nodded and turned back to his pack.

“It will get better, I know it. The same thing happened to the other family a few years ago.”

He picked up the pace, stuffing things in faster, not caring if they got wrinkled or smashed. Getting out was what he needed to do right now.

“Do you think it really was Max they found?”

Caleb froze. He had heard the report, and he knew it was a lie. The advisor Trina had summoned him and told him the news personally. She accepted his lie when she pressed if he thought it was Max, but something had been off. She spoke as if she knew he wasn’t telling the truth.

Two days after that meeting, he was invited to join a party leaving for another town. Trina had signed for him to be part of it and provided all of the gear he now owned. The sword she had given him was nicer than anything he had hoped to own for a while.

Trina told him he needed to leave town and remove the connection between him and Max. She had said it was the least she could do after that stain of Max’s lack of having a skill and escape ruined the celebration Caleb should have received on his Choosing Day.

But then what Max had said to them on the day they freed him stuck in his head. Two skills. Why would Max lie about that to them? Had he hoped they would let him stay? There was no chance that was going to happen. If that was the case, he could have just said one skill and only [Baker]. But two skills? It had eaten at him for a week. Silently, it had consumed him at the thought that perhaps Max did have two skills. Why else would the adventurer guild spend so much time and effort on a person with nothing?

Ignoring that thought again, Caleb focused on what was before him. The dreams he had for all these years were about to come true.

All thanks to Trina.

“No. No, I don’t, but I doubt we will ever see Max again,” Caleb whispered. “We need to trust the gods to be with Max. We did our part. There is nothing more we can do.”

He felt her arms wrap around his waist.

“Stay with me one more night? You can still leave in the morning.”

Putting his hand on hers, Caleb nodded. “I can stay one more night.”

Trina watched as Caleb and the other four adventures she had gathered rode out of town. This was the last piece she had to play. If that boy did know where Max might have gone, perhaps he would make a mistake and lead her to him. If not, well, she had gained a new pawn that would be loyal to her.