Dungeon Runner (Book 1 and 2)

Stepping Up, Chapter 40

"I don't know," Carina said, sounding unsure as she eyed Khumdar, "that sounds dangerous."

The cleric raised an eyebrow.

"Khumdar did it," Tibs said. He'd finished explaining his plan for the Dark Night to the rest of the team. "And I..." Tibs hesitated. Had he gone seven days without eating anything? He knew he'd gone hungry. Most of the time on his Street was spent feeling hunger, but he was too busy to count the days between scraps.

"He's a cleric," she countered. "They go through training to—" She stopped and looked annoyed.

Khumdar smiled.

"Except he didn't train to be a cleric," Mez said. "He just did the same things they do." He frowned. "How did you find out how they get their audience? I didn't think they talked about that."

"They do not," the cleric answered.

"I don't question that Tibs can get an audience," Carina said, letting out an exasperated breath. "My problem is that clerics spend the year leading up to their audience practicing going without food. You only have twenty-three days. That's not enough time. Not to say how that's going to affect everything else you need to do until then. It's one thing to not eat while you aren't doing anything, but you still have your teacher, our training, both as a team and figuring out how you can use your other essences to etch and weave."

"Why the training?" Jackal asked before Tibs could point out he had years of training in going hungry. He didn't look forward to it, but he could endure it. "The point is for Tibs to feel like he's dying. Getting used to that isn't going to help."

"He isn't going to feel like he's dying," Carina stated angrily. "He is going to be dying. Have you ever gone more than a day without eating?" she demanded. "Do you know what's it's like to go hungry?"

"Do you?" the fighter replied, smirking.

She opened her mouth, then closed it. "I've heard from some who have," she said, as if she was weighing each word. "The first times are painful. They have trouble thinking, their coordination suffers. Tibs isn't going to have the time to get used to it. And it doesn't stop there," she added to stop Jackal from replying. "Do you have any idea how many of those who go for their audience to become a cleric don't come back? Those who do, don't suddenly feel better because they survived it. Many die on the way back."

"You're just forgetting one thing," Jackal said.

"And what am I forgetting?" he asked sarcastically.

"Tibs is used to going hungry."

"Don't be silly. I've seen him eat."

"And you never wondered why he eats like it's his last meal?"

"I don't—" Tibs closed his mouth. Did he eat so much? He had at first, but he had slowed down, even before the inn had trouble with its supplies.

Hadn't he?

"You asked me if I'd gone even a day without eating," Jackal said. "I've gone a few days, but no one wants their favorite fighters to be weakened by hunger when they go in the pit, so even when I wasn't winning, I got food. Tibs had no one to bring him food. If he didn't find it himself, he didn't eat. I've seen kids on the street that have to scratch for every crumb. They know what hunger is. Tibs knows."

Carina looked at Tibs, her expression going from surprise to horror, then sadness. "I'm so sorry."

"What for?" Tibs asked, surprised at her reaction.

"You should never have had to suffer like that. Someone should..." She trailed off.

"Be that as it may," Khumdar said. "He has known that suffering. It makes him well suited for this method."