A Mage Rising: (The Chronicles of Herst 2: A LitRPG Saga)

by Thomas Whipple

  Just as he gets in range to strike, I see him crouch in preparation to lunge at Azzaria’s exposed back. Turning toward his much denser mana signature I raise my hands and release the two spells I was charging with extra mana. First, a cone of stone springs out of the ground with a sharp point aimed center mass on Varl. The overcharged spell impacts with a barrier made of swirling light blue energy. The impact is so hard the magical shield buckles and collapses. His spell did stop him from taking any damage though. Unfortunately for him I wasn’t planning on that being the end of it.

  My second spell, a Fireball the size of a beach ball shoots forward and explodes against Varl where he stumbled. I can see Azzaria’s Mana Barrier protect her against some of the splash damage from being so close, but it isn’t much and the barrier holds. The Frozen Shadow on the other hand had no more protection from my spells. This time my spell caused plenty of damage to him and the concussion knocked him off his feet. With fire coating his clothes he cries out in pain but recovers surprisingly fast. Slapping a hand to his chest his body starts frosting over. A moment later the fire on him has been extinguished and the frost covering him thickens. Only a couple seconds later the ice has formed into a full set or armor.

  Hopping off the ground he turns to me just as his darkness spell ends and clears up from the sunlight beating upon it. He snarls at me as I release another Fireball his way. He sees it and I can tell he is planning on dodging, but this is what I have been practicing for. I also cast another spell in conjunction with the fire spell. The Fireball travels only a few feet before it disappears. Instantly it appears behind the mage to explode on his back. Again he is thrown to the ground, though it’s less forceful this time than from the overcharged spell. When he hits the ground face first I can see the damage to his ice armor. It’s melted some but it looks like it protected him from the flame.

  Able to see again, Timbre heads in my direction to protect me. Seeing how this guy prefers ambush and assassination tactics I don’t think he is going to stick around when he is outnumbered like he is. Especially now that I have thwarted his attempts to even the odds. Forming a plan I send a mental message to Thia, then I yell at Timbre. “Don’t come to me. Go to Az and protect her. Both of you stay back.” Maybe if he thinks I plan some mage on mage dueling he will be inclined to stick around longer. At that moment he spins around a turn and the nearby shadows from the trees rush to Varl. They cover him head to toe in a cloak of shadow that obscures his motion. I can still see him but just not well enough to see exactly what he is doing.

  He wants to close with me I realize. Remembering his daggers I think that he must be rare in his fighting style for a mage. A mage killer for sure. Has the protections of a mage and spells to use while he closes, but his speed would indicate a heavy investment in AGI. Time for another surprise, but I need him sufficiently distracted so he doesn’t see it coming. For this I cast Fog. Not because I think it will do much against him since he has some water magic. He may be able to sense the water and disturbances in it if not the mana that is controlling it. No, I cast it so that it’s a low hanging fog just over our heads. Then I cast Mana Decoy. Again this is just another attempt to spread his attention around and distract him more.

  Sending my decoy to run in one direction, I head in the other. He seems conflicted by the two so I give him a little help. Casting a few Mana Bolts at him I also use Folded Space again to have them come from my mana decoy’s hand. He dodges them but now he is focused on the decoy and ignoring me. Perfect. I have my decoy do some evasive like actions and fire off a few more Mana Bolts that come from it. Then I charge another spell as Varl chases down the decoy. I also send another mental order to Thia.

  Just as he gets close to the decoy and lunges at it with conjured blades of shadow and ice another type of blades embed themselves in the back of his ice armor. Thia’s golden feathers penetrate the ice and I can even see a little red underneath where they are. They must have gotten all the way through it before stopping. He never saw the blades coming because he had narrowed his senses to the low fog. Not wasting any time to listen to the startled yell from Varl I release the spell I was charging, this time having it originate from the real me. Golden arcs of lightning start to strike the two blades in his back from above and from below.

  The conductive properties of the feathers make them conduits for our spells to bypass the armor all together. We bombard him nonstop. Not giving him time to recover, we hit him until he falls to the ground. Not trusting it to chance I use Identify to verify he is dead. He is, and there is a rather sickly smell of burnt meat in the air. His ice armor was starting to melt from our attacks, but now he is dead the melting happens fast and he is left exposed. Speaking of, that is how I feel. We just had a rather loud battle with all the lightning and such, but I don’t want to be here when reinforcements arrive. With this in mind I hurry up to him and strip what gear I can from his body.

  As I do this Thia lands and shifts to her elfin form. “I’m sorry Vol. I didn’t see him hide in the cave and he nearly killed you in his surprise attack.” It sounds like she is on the verge of tears.

  Then Timbre steps up next to her. “I am partially at fault as well. I should have been able to smell him.”

  Before they get on with the pity party, I raise my hand to stop them. “Hey now, stop that. That was a mage killer build specifically designed for speed and stealth. It’s not your fault, either of you. He was using magic to cover sight and I bet he was using some kind of cold magic to suppress his scent as well. We have to get out of here though and I need to do something about this body. Don’t want soldiers thinking enemies went this way. Thankfully I’ve been placing a few basic enchantments on the spikes in some of the pits or my idea wouldn’t work.

  Quickly I drag the body over to the cave entrance again. Then I use Shape Earth to fill in the cave and change the entrance to a spike filled pit. I make sure that two of the spikes at the bottom are entering the holes where I removed the sharp feathers from. Then I enchant those spikes, one with fire and another with lightning damage. I don’t spend resources like mana crystals, but I can still manage weak enchantments without them. Done with that I continue to shape the pit so the top looks like it was covered but someone stepped on it and fell through. Examining the crumbling edges of the thinner earth around the top I’m satisfied and turn to the girls.

  They have been cleaning up the clearing to erase any sign of our presence from the night before or from the fight that just occurred. I wait a minute for them to put the finishing touches on their work but we can’t delay any longer. “Okay, gather up. We can’t linger now.” When they get close, I cast Spatial Door and we step through to a spot between a boulder and a rock face. “Ah, back home” I say in jest. We’re at a spot that is just around the corner from the cave I stayed in when I first arrived on this world. Poking my head out from behind the boulder I take a look around. Seeing nothing I tell the girls we’re clear and step out. “Is everyone alright?” Turns out I was the only one that suffered any injury so I use my Time magic to heal up the wound in my shoulder.

  Standing on the bank of the river that I found on my first day I look out at the familiar sight with nostalgia. Shaking it off a moment later I decide to look through the things I got from The Frozen Shadow later and pull out a canteen I emptied over the last day. The girls follow suit and I review my map. According to it, Riverock, the Capital city of the kingdom of Plora, is on this river a ways out into the plains that appear when we leave the forest. The river is mostly a direct route so, waving the girls to follow, I start walking along the back toward the edge of the forest.

  Chapter 12

  Everyone watches as the lord of their new home steps through the strange shimmering portal that he creates. Through some unspoken agreement everyone stays there watching the portal as it stays in place. All are waiting for it to close and signal to them that they won’t be back soon. Almost half a minute passes when an object comes back through the portal and land
s with an “ooof” on the floor. No one moves from the surprise they feel now. After a second the object moves and everyone in the hall realizes it’s a young human that has been tied up who now lies upon the floor of the keep. A few of the guards who were having a late breakfast rush over to take control of the boy.

  The Guards hold the human by the arms so he is standing while Enora makes her way slowly over to him. The boy looks all around with huge eyes, seeing dwarves and elves, tigerkin and wolfkin all looking back. And none of them have collars on. He had never seen so many non-humans without them already being collared as slaves. Sure he was going to die in some horrific kind of way any second he almost missed what the old elf asked him.

  “Who are you boy?” Enora’s warm voice says to him when she has stopped a few feet away.

  Hearing the question he just answers out of reflex. “Steve ma’am.”

  “Ah that is good. You have some manners at least. Now judging from that outfit and on how you arrived her I assume you are a Ploran scout, correct?” When he looks down and nods she motions to the roots binding him and speaks to the guards holding him. “Cut him free and find him a room. I will be down to talk with him soon. Make sure there are a couple guards placed outside his door.” With that Enora walks back over to the table and proceeds to finish her morning meal. The guards just shrug, cut the boys bindings and then march him off to the bottom floor where the guards with no families reside.

  The other council members head over to join her, but Laurissa bends over to pick up a paper from the floor. Looking over the paper she holds she lets loose a snort and joins the rest. They’re already discussing what they should do with their new prisoner when Laurissa sits down and holds out the paper to Enora. “What be it?” questions Dolan. Enora opens it and starts to read aloud.

  Hello Council,

  Found the scout staring at us when we came through and captured him without any real resistance. Too young, couldn’t kill him. Just learn what you can about his unit and hold on to him. I can send him away when I return so he can’t reveal our location.

  Vol

  “Well there you have it” Enora says. The rest of the council seems to have nothing else to say. “Did that answer your questions?” With nods from the other council members she asks. “So who wants to come with for the interrogation?”

  *******

  Seeing the old hart in the clearing, I crouch down a little further. I’m nestled in between a couple of bushes on the edge of the clearing. I followed tracks I had found when I left the clearing where the girls were setting up camp. It has been a few days since our fight with Varl and we don’t have a lot of fresh meat so I agreed to go hunting. The large deer has a huge rack of antlers and is massive. It must weigh a few hundred pounds and should keep us in fresh meat for a while with our storage. Nothing we store seems to spoil and I think it’s a completely sterile environment inside the storage space. The knowledge I got from initially learning it tells me living things can’t survive in there unless they are self contained, like an egg. When I was a kid I saw a water filled glass orb at the mall once that was supposed to be a self-contained ecosystem with plants and shrimp in it. I wonder if that would be all right to put in my storage?”

  Shaking off the stray thoughts, I focus in on the old deer grazing on the long grass of the clearing. It’s only a level eight Red Striped Deer. It looks like any other deer I have seen with a dark brown coat and a large set of antlers at least five points on each side. He is quite a nice specimen and I don’t want to mess up its hide so I cast Phase and run up to him. He seems to sense something wrong and raises his head, but not seeing anything it just stands perfectly still while its ears are the only thing moving. They swivel around, this way and that, seeking to pick up the source of its unease. As soon as the Phase spell drops and I become visible again I don’t give it time to run. Releasing an overcharged Wind Slash at point blank range into the neck of my prey, the head is easily separated from the body.

  The result even surprised me. At least it was so quick that I doubt he had any time to feel it. I place the body and head into my Dimensional Storage before looking up. When I do, I see a deep groove in the ground that goes for about ten feet. Looking around I don’t see any more in the clearing and this one looks new. Getting closer I see the blood at one end and realize my spell did it. I was so preoccupied with the deer’s swift death I didn’t even notice the collateral damage. I guess I didn’t need to charge it. I’ll have to remember that next time I hunt normal animals.

  Turning around I head back to where I left the girls. When I get back to them I pull out the dear and proceed to clean and skin it, with Azzaria instructing me. Done with that portion of it Azzaria and Timber butcher the hart and we split up the meat to store for later. With the few pieces left out Azzaria rubs spices into it and places it over the fire to roast. During the silence as we all sit contentedly around the fire I decide to check my messages. I gained a level in my skinning and another in my Woodcraft ability. I had already gained two since we left Thunderbird’s Roost making it three now. I also gained a level in Advanced Mana Control, Get Lucky, Enchanting and Identify. When Identify reached level ten there was an interesting message that accompanied it. My Identify skill is no longer detectable by others when I use it and the information doesn’t appear in a message that obstructs my view, I just know it. That eased a lot of my worries about using it on other people. Now I can use it as much as I want in the places we visit without worry.

  Thinking about the fight with the human mage known as The Frozen Shadow I recall how my abilities and skills seem to improve faster when fighting strong opponents than when just practicing. I got some experience from him and some improvement otherwise. For magic my Neutral, Air, Fire, Time and Space type magic all increased a level from the fight. My Earth type increased a level too, but I think that was from the traps I dug around the abandoned village of Efftin. Thia made some progress too, gaining two levels in Bladestrike and Knifewings with one in Ride the Lightning. In a straight up fight I might have lost to Varl, but with my familiar and his overconfidence, not to mention my other companions, he wasn’t that hard to deal with. Thoughts of the mage remind me of the items I took off him before we left.

  Platinum Necklace of Quick Thought: An exquisite platinum necklace created by a skilled jeweler and enchanted by an experienced enchanter for speed and magical power. Item Class: Superior. Durability: 38/40. +5 AGI, +5 INT, +5 WIS.

  Light Leather Belt of Speed: A well made leather belt that is enchanted by a skilled enchanter to increase the ease and speed of accessing the potions in it’s quick access pouch. Item class: Uncommon. Durability 25/25. Armor +5. +5 AGI.

  Cloak of the Night: A cloak designed for stealth and speed. Black color. Item class: Uncommon. Durability 27/30 Armor +5. +2 AGI. Increases effect of all stealth skills. Bonus to speed and stealth doubles at night.

  Gold Ring of Spell Power: A ring of braided gold that is enchanted to increase the focus of a mages mind to aid in casting. Item class: Rare. Durability: 20/20. 2% Increase to power of all spells.

  Stout Gold Ring: Gold ring enchanted by an experienced enchanter to make front line Fighters tougher. Item class: Rare. Durability: 25/25. +4 AGI, +6 VIT.

  The rest of the stuff wasn’t of any use or I didn’t remove it in case it gave away that Varl didn’t die from a trap. The bracers and gloves I took weren’t anything better than what we had so I planned to sell them when I had a chance. The belt I took and replaced the one I already had. The necklace I took too and gave the other one I was wearing to Thia. She stored it since she couldn’t wear it with the modified slave collar on. The spell power ring was like the one I already had but without the benefit against interrupts so I gave that to Thia as well. The other ring I gave to Timbre and the cloak went to Azzaria. I watched as, with smiles on their faces, the girls put on the new equipment.

  We chatted for a little while before heading off to bed early. The ward stone is set up but this close t
o the edge of the forest and the danger of slavers had us keeping a watch. I drew the second to last watch so I was groggy when Thia woke me up. Pulling myself from the warm embrace of the bed I leave the tent, Thia collapsing on the bed behind me as I leave. Sitting on a camp chair, I take out some water to splash on my face. Sufficiently awake now, I take a look around for anything of concern. Casting Mana Sight I observe the forest around me. There is nothing to worry about out there at the moment so I just sit and stare at the twin moons. Thinking about Varl and how I killed him reminds me of all the other soldiers I killed. It’s one thing to kill a bunch of raised skeletons or dead bodies possessed by insects. It’s a whole other thing when killing people. I’m uncomfortable with it, but in the heat of battle I just react and look for a way to win.

  Taking time to reflect on the people I have killed I become worried. Not because of my reaction to the deaths, but for my lack of reaction. I don’t revel in the deaths of others but thinking of what those people are like and what they were planning to do to myself or others, I just can’t muster up the sympathy to feel guilty about their deaths. That’s when I remember the young kid I sent back to town on that first day of our trip. I do feel bad about how everyone in the kingdom is raised with such prejudices being encouraged. That makes me feel a little bad about the soldiers I killed. They probably knew nothing but hate toward everything besides humans. Either way, they made a choice when they were old enough to understand, and ignorance isn’t an excuse for the suffering one imposes on another.