“Amazing!”

  “Hells yeah, we kicked that bear’s ass!”

  “Didn’t die, so there’s that.”

  “I have so many notifications. At least three levels, I’m sure of it.”

  “Betsy’s gonna need some time in the box for repairs, but worth it.”

  “Need to sell the rest of the parts. “

  “Hold up for a second,” Heath laughed. His anger hadn’t disappeared, but it was pushed deep down under the effervescence of a successful first delve. “We need to talk about what comes next.”

  “But so many stats….” Jenny Mae trailed off, giving Heath her best attempt at puppy dog eyes.

  “We have to split the loot. I’m going with a standard five way share, even split. I’d like to keep the argo for the Loon but that’s more than a fifth.”

  “Even split?” Copperfield asked. “No ship cut?”

  “Not for now.” Heath had thought long and hard about this, and discussed back and forth with the Loon while the others were out of earshot. “Ship cut works for delving teams when the ship has training facilities for them to use and a standardized schedule. We don’t have that yet. When the Loon reaches that point, we’ll talk about restructuring.”

  Copperfield looked contemplative but didn’t push it. Jenny Mae was vibrating, with the information of how delving shares were historically split in every major power for the last five thousand years, he was sure.

  “Ahem.”

  “Ah, yes, Ekaterina?”

  “Any competent Jeweler will be able to split the argo into pieces, one to be used as your share, the rest to sell and split the credits.”

  Emerald snorted. Their more experienced team member had been mostly quiet through the delve and celebration, something about letting them get the most experience possible. “You think there are a lot of second rank Jewelers on the Rim? I’d bet the guild snapped up the only one in the system.”

  “How about this: we hold everything for another few delves, until there’s more that we can split evenly, no specialized Classers needed. I bet with practice we can get even further down the path.”

  The spacers among them seemed appeased at Heath’s suggestion but Ekaterina scoffed at the idea. “We came to a cluster for a reason. Why would we hold here for lesser rewards when we can get the first clear bonuses from the rest? There is a much better chance of getting more argo, that way.”

  “First…clear…bonus?” Jenny Mae tried out the phrase.

  Heath had never heard of it either, but the grating of the Wizard’s attitude would have kept him from asking.

  Ekaterina muttered something he couldn’t hear except for the word ‘savages’. “Yes, the first clear bonus. The first time you challenge a dungeon, the rewards are greater. This is known.”

  “It very much isn’t.” Emerald said. They were frowning now at the news.

  Heath was reeling as well. No wonder delving teams attached themselves to ships, if there was a bonus for traveling to new dungeons all the time.

  “New plan. Jenny Mae, you were looking at contracts to haul to the next system. Move that up. There are five rank one’s nearby. We do a first delve on all of them. Then we split the loot after that. Agreed?”

  “Yes, yes, yes! There are a bunch of short-hop contracts I’ll get us as much as we want. Now can we pleeease talk about how amazing that was?”

  Her energy was infectious, and Heath found himself grinning. “It was terrifying. And exhilarating at the same time. I can see why people become delvers.”

  “Hells yeah. Did you see me tank those assholes? And that [Shield] man. Next time let’s do that earlier.”

  “He is correct. You should have been using the skill throughout the delve, our efficiency will be improved if we use every tool at our disposal.” Maybe the energy wasn’t infectious to everyone. Ekaterina’s advice wasn’t wrong, if not the kindest way she could have phrased it.

  “It takes a lot to make it that strong,” Heath admitted.

  “So don’t make it that strong,” Copperfield said. “Even weaker it would help tank a few more hits. Or if you can get it to just block a single blow without the full dome each time, that should be easier.”

  “I’ll try it out. We’ll book a training room session before our next delve,” Heath announced. Then he took a quick look at [Personal Bank] to be sure they could. He was flush with success, but not cash. The single-hop cargo jobs never paid much, but it should be enough to keep them fed and still get a short session in.

  They chattered for another few minutes, reliving their battles and tossing ideas back and forth. No one was really taking anything in, but they needed the moment to relax. The threat of lurking death would do that to a person.

  When they started repeating themselves, the energy not yet calming down enough for bed, Heath had an idea. “How about we put on a movie?”

  “Yes! I picked up the next World Destroyers of Kazgrad at the last port. I already uploaded it.”

  They all settled into their usual spots on the bridge. Until the Loon’s common areas got upgraded — and that was a long ways off – it was the most comfortable place to sit.

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Then Heath startled and realized Ekaterina was still standing. “Oh, you’re welcome to join us,” he said without thinking. By the look on Copperfield’s face, that might not have been entirely true.

  Their passenger-turned-teammate hesitated for a moment, glancing at the screen. Then her shoulders pushed back and a layer was added to the mask the woman was wearing. “Thank you, no. Traditional classes can be more complex to level, in exchange for their superior power. I need to meditate.”

  With that final barb she left the bridge. Though it was softer than the other times. Like she’d had to dig deep to get it out.

  “Congratulations crewmembers!” The Loon broke the silence and even added in some audio of cheering crowds. “To have pitted yourself against such fearsome foes and come out victorious is a true accomplishment. I have myself danced the line between life and death, and the freedom is unparalleled.”

  “Thanks Loon. You should have been there. Can I upload my HUD recording.”

  “That would be most welcome, Crewmember Jenny Mae.”

  Their Administrator followed through on that promise, her eyes glazing over. Belatedly, Heath followed suit.

  “What adventure! What bravery! I find myself thankful. Through tragedy I have been resurrected with a crew I would pit against any foe. I must impress upon you how proud I am to have you all aboard.”

  “Thank you!” Jenny Mae beamed while the rest of them shifted and avoided eye contact.

  “Let’s start the vid,” Heath said in an attempt to change the subject.

  The Wandering Loon complied, and the on-screen adventure started up. It played for two hours, during which Jenny Mae and Copperfield heckled the characters through explosions, daring escapes, and unrealistic monologues. Both his newest crew members were of the opinion that active participation was not just allowed but encouraged at all media screenings. It was not worth the battle, Heath had learned on their first movie night.

  When they had all calmed down enough to go to bed, Heath laid down in his bunk, staring at the textured ceiling, unable to relax.

  “Are you troubled, Heath?” The Loon’s voice was quiet, concerned. With good reason. It had been years since Heath had trained himself to sleep on whichever wacky schedule was available wherever he happened to be. Spacer Class instincts had insisted on it.

  “A bit.”

  “If you would like to talk, I am willing to listen.”

  “It’s just now sinking in,” Heath confessed. It was only him and Loon here, and the ship wouldn’t judge him. “I could have died. We all could have, and I was barely above useless.”

  “If I may, Heath. I do not believe that is the case. I understand the feeling of being unable to act in combat. Our recent voyage through the Trellis comes to mind. I had no way of defending myself from those monsters which attacked us. I had to rely on my own strengths of speed, and trust that my crew would help. And it did.

  “You are not so different. Perhaps combat strength is not your strongest suit, but it is not a crime to have avoided fighting so far. And combat is not what a Captain is for. You forget I saw the delve through your eyes, and the others. It was to you they looked for decisions, it was you that came up with your plan to defeat the boss monster, and it was your quick-thinking that brought Miss Althalas out alive.”

  “I..” Heath trailed off, unable to come up with a rebuttal. Did he really do all that? Maybe, but it wasn’t like it was all that much. Not like the others who picked off monsters every minute.

  “Sleep now, Captain. Review your status in the morning and you will believe me.”

  When Heath woke, he could feel his whole body buzzing.The adrenaline and subsequent crash of the previous day had masked it long enough for him to sleep, but that was gone. He didn’t think he’d ever had this many unacknowledged System messages at once. Not even in the early days when levels came like breathing.

  He took a deep breath and dove in. With a mental nudge, all of his Skill upgrades collapsed into one notification.

  [Skill Improvement Summary:Marksmanship (+1), Steady (+1), Leadership* (+2), Personal Bank (+1), Shield(+2)]

  That was insane growth. He wouldn’t have believed it if someone else told him. He knew risk could speed up growth, but he never expected it like this.

  It was the [Leadership] boost that he had the most trouble believing. A few suggestions and reluctant loot distribution shouldn’t be worth that much. He expanded the notification to read the details.

  [Leadership subSkill available: Crew Sense. Gain an innate understanding of the location and physical state of anyone you consider part of your crew. May stack with additional aura skills.]

  The Loon would never let him live it down. It was a boon for any Captain, and most earned it at one point or another. Nothing intrusive, but he would be able to find the crew or feel if there was an emergency like a severe injury. Perfect for a group that was not only a ship crew but a delving team.

  Next up were the general notifications. He commanded them to condense as well.

  [Congratulations! Your level has increased (X2). You have unused attribute points to distribute.]

  Two levels. For a day’s worth of work. He had no idea what the others had gotten, but if it was a similar amount of aetherized argo, Jenny Mae would be comatose for half the day processing it all.

  He took a hard look at his status. The delve had shown him he was lacking in pretty much all areas. But the Loon’s advice from the night before was still fresh in his mind. If he was going to be a Captain that supported his crew, then his [Shield] skill would need more to work with. He dumped three of the points into Magic to increase his mana pool, and split the others between Reflexes, Toughness, and Power, so he could use the mana and make it through the dungeons in one piece. He was getting a bit out of balance for a Captain who was also a pilot. He would need to focus on processing and reflexes and bring his precision up when he next leveled, but he was ultimately pleased.

  Expectations of a day mostly spent idle were blown out of the airlock when he arrived in the mess to find Jenny Mae swiping at a pad, sipping the coffee she had purchased with her last cargo cut. With a mournful look at the steaming mug, Heath put together his energy sludge. One day, he reminded himself, a cup of coffee wouldn’t be a luxury.

  “Good morning, Captain!”

  “Good morning, I’m surprised to see you up.” She quirked her head at Heath, silently urging him to continue. “I know you must have gained a lot from the dungeon, I figured it would take you a while to process.”

  “I’m using the method from Ralagan’s Power Leveling of the Uninitiated.”

  “Never heard of it,” Heath said.

  “That makes sense. My professors at the academy mentioned it, but I didn’t ever think I’d be power-leveled. It’s old, coming out of the Alliance of Hegemons, but no one’s come up with a better option in all that time. You just spread everything out over days so that it absorbs more naturally, the advancement argo and the attribute points themselves.”

  “You can do that?”

  Jenny Mae looked at him like she was questioning whether or not he had ever actually seen a book. “You can, and you should. Taking too many levels at once can damage your system. There have been recorded cases where Classers have required healing after investing too heavily in their stats at once.”

  “Oh.”

  “Yeah. Though it only really matters at rank one. After level 50, the chances of getting argo for multiple levels at once is laughable, but the body has been toughened up enough that even if you end up with the luck of the Trickster and get something crazy like five at once, you can handle it without too much of a problem.”

  “Here’s to future problems then.”

  He clinked glasses with Jenny Mae and drained the rest of his smoothie. There were plant parts in the sludge so it counted.

  “If you’re not out of commission, we should talk about cargo.”

  Jenny Mae swiped on her pad and directed Heath to the view screen at the end of the table. “The next-closest rank one dungeon we can reasonably delve is only one jump away. I figured we just shove as much cargo, mail, and anything else that needs to get from here to Winter’s Fury next door. I think with this list we should make enough for it to be worthwhile. Not a lot,” she acknowledged, “but enough.”

  Heath reviewed the list but couldn’t find any fault with her logic. That was the truth of cargo hauling on the Rim. If it was easy to get to, then the pay would be shit. That was why stringing contracts along longer routes was considered the ideal. But the math checked out.

  “Set it up. I’ll wake up Copperfield when we get close. If we can load everything quickly we’ll be able to make a straight shot to the gate we need without detouring around the gas giant. Should only take us a week. Loon, take us down planetside, please.

  “Right away, Captain.”