Lair by Carl Stubblefield (recommended reading TXT) 📕

feet, he tried to dash back up again with a little lateral movement thrown into the push. Gus slid five feet to the left as he again crested up the cliff and was able to secure two handholds. As his momentum petered out again, he felt a sharp jolt to his shoulder sockets as he dropped to supporting himself without assistance.

Gus’ increased strength allowed him to pull himself upward but his stamina bar was draining quickly. Gus whipped his leg out onto another rocky protuberance and got his heel anchored there and relieved some of the stress on his arms. Taking a quick breath, Gus pulled and pushed until he could grab two new handholds and was supporting himself by his small foothold. Panting he held there looking for another foothold, his hand patting around the unseen upper edge of the ledge, questing for a handhold. Gus was still fighting gravity by hanging upside down, and realized he had to press on or risk bottoming out his stamina and falling. Losing his progress and hurting himself in the process were good motivators to keep moving.

Gus remembered that he had to rotate his shoulders, not arms, in order to avoid wearing his upper body out. He twisted as he reached for more handholds. Luckily, they were easy to find in the porous rock, but the rock was brutally abrasive and sharp in some areas. Some areas he could fit his fingers in smooth indentations that must have been where there were bubbles when the rock was cooling. They gave him a secure grip while he repositioned and settled his other hand and footholds. Gus reached the lip of the overhang and was at a distinct disadvantage, because he had to remove a hand to quest for another handhold, blind from the lip blocking his view of what was above. He would pat blindly, then have to hurriedly grab back to the handhold until his stamina refilled.

Finally, he found a nice wide groove that he could hang onto with both hands. Gus realized he would have to hook his heel onto another foothold or pull himself up with his arms alone and he was afraid that too much strain would bottom out his stamina mid-attempt, even with his increased strength stats. Gus surged upward with his legs, pulling himself upward, extending his legs to their full length and bracing with one leg secured and one leg to a small recess above the lip.

“Dayum, Dayum, Da-yum!” Gus shouted as he shifted his weight to his upper leg and began trying to pull himself over the edge. Another handhold helped pull enough of his body over the edge that he was supported by the rock, not hanging off of it. A chime sounded as he clung, wrung out on the rocky lip.

You have unlocked the skill: Rock Climbing (Level 1)

Hey, wallcrawler! You are more able to recognize adequate hand and footholds. Level this skill to unlock more functionality.

100 XP awarded

“Really? Now?” Gus panted. “I guess skills are skills…” He realized that there was still a long way to go before reaching his destination. He lay there panting as his stamina bar slowly filled completely. When his heart rate and breathing slowed to a manageable level, he continued on. From atop the overhang, Gus was able to progress with a mixture of an army crawl and rock climbing to continue upward. Ledges and handholds began to show up in the display as red for tiny handholds, orange for medium and yellow for large, easy places to grasp. Following the guided display, he made his way to a flat area atop the outcropping. Sitting down, he let his stamina bar refill, and looked up at the mountain nearby to plan his further ascent.

Luckily, the rise atop the outcropping was gradual and provided multiple larger areas to rest, so he wouldn’t be hanging for his life the whole way up. Looking at his hands, he saw that while his gloves were ripped and torn, his fingers weren’t bruised or scraped, despite the punishment the initial climb inflicted. Attributing it to Nth assistance, Gus was glad that he wouldn’t have to climb on cut, bleeding fingers. This job was difficult enough as it was.

When his stamina bar topped off, he started again. This climb was much easier in comparison, as he was able to simply stand and regain stamina. Gus took a moment to look out at the jungle and forest below as he rose above the canopy. Wisps of smoke were emanating from the volcano now, reminding Gus that the once silent beast was awake now.

From this height, he could see the corner of the lawn and some zombies milling about. He ducked back to face the mountain and kept climbing until he reached the junction where the manor poked out of the rock. There was a sill surrounding the windows and a small two inch ledge that expanded to six inches when in front of one of the large oval windows. Gus was able to grab and transition to the sill and slide to the first window ledge. After sliding to the third window, following the curve of the overlook, he noticed the wind.

Waiting between gusts, Gus timed his movements from window to window when it seemed the calmest. The windows were narrow enough that he could brace himself within with outward pressure, so he was pretty stable while standing directly in front of a window.

The thickness of the divider between each window compartment was only three inches and narrow enough to be gripped and then used as an anchor by his trailing hand as his leading hand crawled across the next window until he could grab the next divider transition. Taking his time, Gus finally made it around the curve of the building to where he saw a familiar view. Looking upward he saw a balcony two stories up. Gus moved until he was in a window recess directly below the balcony. “This one’s for