Okay, I lied. We'd been debating a plan of action for half an hour. The lava flow below us had shown no signs of abatement, but I hadn't heard a peep out of Richard, nor had I gotten a death notification, so I'd just trusted the little slimeball. I need some help.

  "Ash, any sign of Richard?" Ash leaned back over the tube at my request.

  "Nothing going on boss, it looks like the flow rate has increased though, and the level's creeping up again."

  I joined our maganical engineer and looked into the shaft getting blasted by the heat. The lava level had crept up significantly. I still wasn't sure what Richard had done to save himself from getting absolutely cooked.

  "What do you need?" I shouted into the hole. Argin slowly ambled over to join us.

  The lava level's increasing, I'm not sure how much longer I can stay above it. I need help to get out of here.

  "Can you send me an image?" I leaned back. No part of me wanted to get another [Heat Exhaustion] notification.

  What I got from Richard would have been hilarious if the situation wasn’t so dire. He had used some slime to set up some sort of banana slug hammock. He dangled above the lava stream, four points of his slug sling glued to the top of the tunnel. The image shifted, showing that he was a couple of yards away from the ladder leading up into the study.

  I can't slide across the top of the tunnel. It's super-heated. My slime is keeping me rare. If I leave the hammock, I'm dead.

  Immediately, I wanted to know if Richard could survive dying. He'd always given me the impression that his class was some evolved version of [Dead Wrong].

  "What's the problem, Cole?" Ash broke into my inner monologue.

  I called Tandy over and explained the situation. We all stood staring at the fiery hole in the ground.

  "Can we lower a rope? Have Tandy use her magic?" Ash was pacing. He wasn't asking for input, but was running through options out loud. Any rope that we lowered was going to be immolated before it got anywhere near Richard. "Build a raft? Some sort of lava-immune capsule? Could he burrow through the stone towards us?"

  At the last couple of questions, Ash looked at me expectantly.

  I honestly didn't know.

  "Can you make a raft? Burrow through stone?" I called out to the slug, realizing that I didn't know my companion all that well. Me being the pet in the relationship, he seemed to have knowledge of everything I could do, while the reverse was certainly not true.

  If I could burrow through stone, I'd be a Rock Slug not a banana slug. That statement begged a lot of questions about his ability to burrow through bananas. Between resisting the heat and holding this hammock in place, I barely have enough concentration to talk to you. Cole, I need you to solve this problem.

  Fuck. The one time he needs me, I've got nothing.

  I relayed Richard's limitations to the rest of the team. Argin tapped her chin, considering.

  "What about you, Argin? Are you lava proof? Could you go down and just grab him?" Her frown immediately crushed my hopes.

  "Think the heat would also melt me, I am [Enchanted] stone, but stone none-the-less." Argin looked up at the Stone Wardens that had joined us in the study. No one seemed to disabuse her of the statement, although I got the distinct impression that no one had tried out the 'Are we immune to lava?' theory.

  Okay, the Stone Wardens weren't going to save us. They were huddled around the big table in the room with a current map of the countryside in place. I got it, with the entire city's populace in the balance, what was the life of one overgrown slug? Besides, he claimed to be [Immortal] right?

  Fuck.

  "Cole," Meredeath cut into the conversation. "You always bragged to me about having a [Slime Manipulation] skill, right?"

  I didn't need to jump into the lava, my face had immolated on the spot.

  "Y-yeah," I stammered, not exactly sure what she was going after.

  "Can you help him out?" Meredeath interjected. She was cradling Briyain in his bowl. "I've found that if I use one of my skills closer associated with Briyain, it's stronger. Maybe you can help him move his hammock so he can get over to the shaft and we can pull him up? I'm sure Tandy can whip some sort of rope up that can withstand the heat for long enough."

  The idea had merit, but the problem was I had to see the slime in order to manipulate it. And Richard's fuzzy mental image was just not good enough for me to visualize the slime I needed to manipulate.

  "If only I could produce my own slime," I muttered. If I could, then I could send it down myself. Realizing what I said, I quickly added quietly, "That's not a request, [System]."

  "If you've got to see it," rumbled Argin thoughtfully. "Then why don't we tie you up and send you down the shaft?"

  "The heat would kill me before I got down there." I'd already thought through that possibility. Argin nodded, walking off to consult with one of the other Stone Wardens.

  "We've got another problem. I'm not great on thermodynamics, but I'm pretty sure when the lava hits the top of the tube, it's going to come up our access shaft here and melt the library." Pop had been ignoring our entire operation. He'd never been a big fan of Richard. But upon hearing that his beloved library might go up in flames, he had joined our conclave. We stood around the shaft, each mulling over different possibilities.

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  "I've got a [Heat Protection] spell I can cast, but it won't hold up against lava. It'd get you partway there." I guess the [Archmage] wasn't completely useless after all.

  "I've got a weakness to heat, a trade-off for some of my water-based skills." It hurt to admit, but for all the advantages I'd picked up over the last months, it'd come with some major downsides.

  "Does it have to be Cole? If we can get someone down there, do we need his [Slime Manipulation] skill? Someone could just use a halberd or something and bring him in that way." This suggestion came from Ash and started a debate on the method someone else would use to haul the little slug in.

  I stepped away. In my heart, I knew it had to be me, but I would not win that argument without a plan.

  I joined Argin at the table of Stone Wardens. The women and men from her lineage had all come alive, one after another. Her mom and grandmother were the most talkative. Some of the older Stone Wardens, like Betula, seemed like beings out of time. They used archaic language, or just stoically watched the others talk. Not a single one of them was elderly, they'd all be afflicted with the stone sickness as warriors in the height of their lives. But apparently that was expected as a Stone Warden.

  "You are trying to save a slug?" The Warden with a braided beard spoke. His hand bent low to pet the wolf that'd come to life with him. I suspected he might be the Stone Warden that'd started the Guards in Cersapil, as the wolf resembled the one etched into their armor.

  "Yes... sir," I stammered, adding the ‘sir’ in my nervousness. I wasn't familiar with the legends of the city, but I didn't have to be to know I was surrounded by [Heroes]. "He's my [Companion], and he's going to die if we don't do something."

  The man nodded, fingering the upturned ears of his wolf. He looked across the table at the other Stone Wardens. As they'd come to life, each of their eyes had turned into marbles. Some of them cat’s eyes, some dark constellations, all of them reflected their soul like a real eye made of flesh.

  "Argin tells us you're going to get him yourself? Risk your own life for the slug?" The bearded legend asked? When I nodded, he smiled. "That is honorable."

  "Fine, fine..." A Stone Warden stepped forward. The Warden was unstrapping their helmet and shoulder armor. As they removed it from their body, it changed from stone to a deep blue leather. "You can use my armor."

  I blinked up at the man, his tousled curly hair sticking up in all directions. I wasn't sure what leather armor was going to do to help me survive the heat of the lava.

  My thoughts must have been plain on my face, as the man sighed. He looked not much older than me.

  "It's got a [Heat Immunity] enchantment," he explained. One of the other Wardens snickered. If stone could turn red, his would have. As it was, his green cat’s eyes darted to the individual laughing, and the laughter cut off immediately. "I used to complain about the heat, so the Legion had it made up special."

  "Thank you," I reached forward to grab the blue helmet and shoulder guards. As my hand touched it, a cooling energy immediately encompassed my fingers. This might work!

  Before I could shift the armor to my side of the table, the Warden reached out. His cold, stony hand clasped mine.

  "I want this armor back." He forced the words through gritted teeth as his fingers squeezed mine.

  "Of course," I said. "Assuming I survive this attempt, I'll return them to you directly."

  He let go of my hand with a curt nod.

  I grabbed the armor, immediately flopping the helmet onto my head. My body started cooling. Between this and my [Pet Bed] and Pop's [Heat Resistance] spell, I might have a chance at surviving this.

  Helmets weren't designed to be used while dangling upside down. It took a few extra additions thanks to Tandy, and a small bit of troubleshooting, but I was slowly being lowered by the strength of several of the city's Stone Warden defenders and a length of sturdy rope. Meredeath used some harness magic to get it all to work, and while not exactly comfortable, I wasn't in agony either.

  We had thirty minutes to save Richard, that's as long as Pop's [Heat Resistance] spell lasted, and I had the suspicion we were going to need all the time we could get.

  I could really use some rescuing. Richard’s voice was tense.

  "I'm halfway there, hang out a little longer. I thought you liked sunbathing."

  Sunbathing and bathing in the sun are two different things.

  My knee clanked on the steel rung of the ladder. Not only did it hurt from the impact, but it burned. I'd taken a 10% dip in health with just that hit. It was like I'd grabbed tongs that had been sitting in the forge barehanded. [Gelatinous Regeneration] took care of the damage, I just wish it took care of the searing pain.

  "You guys, hurry!" I shouted up to the crew. They'd been taking it slow to prevent jostling, but between Richard panicking, and the sweat pooling in the helmet, we were going to have to move a lot faster than a slug.

  The rope jolted, and I started dropping rapidly.

  Unfortunately, it felt like I was getting dropped onto a giant torch.

  My beloved [Heat Exhaustion] warning popped up, even with all the cooling gear on. I had [20] minutes until I earned [Heat Stroke].

  It wasn't clear to me how close I was to hitting the bottom of the shaft because looking down wasn't an option. My only clue was the bubbling hiss of the molten rock and the rising heat.

  "How high is the lava? How far can I dangle?" I called out to the slug. It should be any moment now.

  It's only a foot and a half.

  Damn, it was going to be close.

  The helmet I had on was an inch thick, basically a studded skull cap, so as long as it didn't start melting, I should theoretically be fine.

  I took a chance and tilted my head back, glimpsing the lip of the shaft.

  "STOP!" I yelled, knowing it would take them a moment.

  The rope jerked, slamming my back against the rungs of the ladder. Grill marks seared into my soul.

  My face dipped into a river of super-heated air.

  [[Warning] - The you have progressed to the state of [Heat Exhaustion]. Your Stamina has a 50% debuff and will not regenerate until you remove yourself from heat. If you continue to expose yourself to heat or the heat escalates, you will progress to [Thermal Shock] and lose consciousness regardless of remaining Stamina.]

  Thankfully, my Stamina wasn't actively draining. The harness was doing all the work.

  The air burned my lungs. I might have felt better swallowing a hot poker. My health started ticking down at a rapid pace. By the Everbear’s grace, the brim of the helmet shielded my eyes. Otherwise, they would have instantly boiled.

  "Richard," I croaked.

  I'm behind you.

  I kicked the wall, twisting my body around trying to touch the super-heated tunnel as little as possible.

  Richard came into view. He'd created a four point hammock, slinging him as close to the ceiling of the tunnel as possible. The sling sat tight against his skin as slime boiled off him, adding and evaporating. It looked like someone had sprinkled salt on him, his skin bubbling in its attempt to keep him slimed, to keep the magical barrier in place. Two tentacles flattened against the hammock looked out at me with entreaty.

  A little help, please.

  Stumbling Up will be stubbing book 1 the week of March 1st (Chapter 1-71)

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