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

by Thomas Whipple

  There are five players including me and the other four look over at my extra large bet. When the cards are dealt the two in front of me are dealt a prince and a seven. Then a six for me, a five, and last is a princess for the final player. Showing up, the dealer has a king. The next round is a four, a queen, a wizard for me, another five for the man next to me and the last player gets a nine. Against a dealer with an 11 showing is bad. They don’t even have something like insurance on this world. I can see the owner behind the dealer smirking with smug satisfaction.

  The first player to the far right calls for another card and gets a wizard. Bust. The next player stays with 17. Now it’s my turn and I have a tough decision to make. At 16 I decide to go for it and call for a card. To my disappointment I get a one. Not willing to risk another card I stay with 17, unhappy. Next is the fellow with ten. He hits and the table erupts in cheers as he gets a king to bring him to 21. With that the last player isn’t willing to hit a 19 and stays.

  The man behind the dealer is scowling now. The dealer flips his cards showing a six making his tally 17. Everyone holds there breath as the dealer has to take a card. If he gets a four he can tie the highest possible hand and there is no payout. When the flip comes the table erupts into cheers once again. The dealer pulled a five, sending him over 21. As the crowd that has formed around our table celebrates I can see the man’s face turn red in anger. I guess he isn’t used to loosing so much at a time. I also notice a notification. While I wait for the people around me to calm down I check it.

  Get Lucky has reached level 5. For reaching level 5 in this ability its benefits are doubled for one hour. Let it ride!

  Well that is a pleasant bonus and the little note at the end tells me Gwydia is paying attention. The confidence from my patron is also reassuring. I look over to the three women watching with the slaves from the nearby wall. I see bright, beautiful smiles from under their hoods. That is when the man that was standing behind the dealer pushes the slave away and takes his place. The mood around here changes in a blink as the man scowls at me. Before he says anything I see a familiar face walk up to him in a hurry.

  It’s the merchant I bought the Golden Drake Leather from. The one I suspect had the thugs follow me to steal my money and possessions. I have an urge to burn the little weasel where he stands but refrain. As he leans in and whispers to the man where the dealer was a moment ago. They have a quickly whispered conversation and I only hear bits and pieces. Mainly it seems like the merchant is saying I could be dangerous to the pit manager. I think the pit manager, or whatever this man in front of me is, keeps asking for more information but the merchant only shakes his head or shrugs at the questions. Manager guy nods and the corrupt merchant quickly vanishes into the crowd.

  As this all was happening the other players are clearing out. They don’t go far, wanting to watch, but no one takes their places at the table. I guess no one wants to piss off this man. Looking at me and speaking loudly for the crowd to hear the new arrival opens his arms wide in invitation. “Welcome to the Golden Egg Casino where any bet is honored and everyone is a winner!” he bellows. Then with reduced volume he looks at me again. “How about we make things a little more interesting. Lets place a real bet you and I. I deal and make it double or nothing on all your winnings here tonight.” The space around us goes quiet as the spectators wait to hear what will happen and count the amount I have piled before me.

  I am starting to get the idea that this man is more than a simple pit manager. Thinking about it for a moment I get an idea, but he’ll never go for it unless I sweeten the pot. Pulling ten platinum from my storage I place them on the table in a flourish. “Yes. Let us make it interesting you and I. My winnings, which are about 3000 gold at this point with the ten platinum. Double or nothing, where all bets are honored at the fabulous Golden Egg Casino.”

  A lot of emotions cross the mans face as he stares at my coin. Greed, surprise, anger, and then a cunning smile flits across his face. “Of course valued patron” he says as he pulls a deck of cards from under the table.

  Yeah right! Like I’m going to fall for an obvious cheat like that. Raising my hand I call for silence from all the people who started murmuring. “Great, but I would like that person right there” I point to one of the body guards who has taken position behind their boss “to shuffle and cut. Also, I would like to know the name of my challenger. Mine is Vol.”

  With that declaration his face goes red once again in anger. But a look around the crowd that is rapidly expanding he can see that refusal might besmirch the good name of his establishment. “My name is Trace. There is one problem though sir. There is not enough coinage here to cover your bet and to maintain the establishments gaming for the night.” At this he takes a dramatic look around at the people gathered “I would need to close down until I can get the needed amount to continue from the bank and reopen tomorrow. I am sure that you would not wish to ruin these good people’s fun. In the event that you win I would ask you to return tomorrow for your winnings.”

  “That is ridiculous. Are you saying you are unable to cover my bet then?” I make sure to raise my voice at this point because I want everyone to hear what comes next. “Fine. You can cover my winnings with coin and pay the rest to me with all the slaves you have in this establishment. I am even doing you a favor as it is unlikely they are even worth my original platinum, much less twice that.”

  Finally loosing his composure he snarls “Fine, deal” and holds his hand out to me. When I shake there is a quest popup that appears in my vision.

  Quest: Bet the House: You Have made a bet with Trace, the owner of the Golden Egg Casino. Double or nothing on the winnings you have from tonight and all the slaves in the establishment against your 10 platinum. The guard you indicated will shuffle and cut the deck. Win the game of King's Court to collect your winnings. Penalty for not honoring the bet is permanent reduction of level to 1.

  The quest wasn’t that surprising but the penalty was. That is a harsh penalty for reneging on a bet. There are ways around it though. All he has to do is hand over everything it says then kill me and take it all back. I’ll have to watch my back. With the crowd we have drawn by now I don’t think anyone else is gambling. The guard nervously comes to the table where he shuffles the deck, an obvious amateur. With the cut done he retreats and wipes sweat from his forehead. Then Trace deals the first cards and they are both kings. Everyone takes in a breath so fast I swear I can feel it ruffle my hair. I pray silently for this to work out and wait for the next card. Mine comes up and it is a queen. At this point I don’t think anyone is breathing.

  Seeing my second card Trace doesn’t even bother laying his face down, just flips it up. What comes up confuses me for a second because I haven’t seen this hand before. He has two kings. A second later everyone breaths out a roar of a cheer that must have rattled the building. People start patting me on the back and I can hear some exclamations of “Instant Death” going around the crowd. I’m worried for a second before I realize that is what they call the hand that is a pair of kings. They equal 22 and are an instant loss but exceedingly rare. Now comes the tricky part, collecting my winnings.

  I stand up and stretch my hand out to Trace. He takes it and shakes with a grip obviously meant to intimidate me. “Come with me so that we can make the transfer.”

  I chuckle menacingly to him and the crowd starts to quiet down. I can also see more guards approach. “Come with you so that you can kill me and take everything back afterward” I let my voice ring out in the sudden silence for a moment. “I think not. I do believe these good people would all like to witness the generosity of the Golden Egg Casino!” I shout out that last part. This is met with another round of cheers. The salesman smile he plastered onto his face after he lost slips a little and I can see the hatred burning within his eyes. Looking at the amassed crowd I can practically hear the gears turning in his head. Can his guards take everyone here? Can he get away alive if he refuses to pay and his level h
its one?

  It seems that some sense has come over him because he motions off to the side for us to do the transfer. “Of course. We can do it off to the side so that others can continue their entertainment.” He sounds amicable but I can see that he has just switched tactics.

  He waves someone forward and the dealer from before brings me the money I have won. Six platinum are set on the table and 156 gold. That means that I had 3078 gold from my winnings with the ten I started with. I take it all off the table and mime placing it into my bag while storing it away. The gold coins aren’t that big but that many of them starts to weigh quite a bit so I’m thankful to not have to carry it around the normal way. When that is finished I start walking over to the side of the large gaming hall where slaves are lining up. There are nearly fifty people forming a line along that side of the room. Thinking about all the tables with slave dealers and the wait staff it makes sense though.

  Then the process of transferring them over begins. It was a little annoying though. Trace just had to touch the collar around each slave and will it to transfer while I had to place a drop of my blood on each one. Forty-seven total drops of blood was not fun. When we are about done a little girl and boy of six or seven years old runs up to one of the slaves in the line. I notice that they are also collared and tiger beastkin. The woman they run up to is also a beastkin, obviously their mother. She is standing with a man that I take to be the father. They hug their mother tight, but a couple of guards step forward and start to drag them away.

  The spectacle of the crying family draws the eyes of a few patrons nearby as most of the earlier crowd has dispersed back to their gambling. The tables are now run by guards and other humans that came from the back rooms. I turn to look at Trace “What is the meaning of this. The bet was for all the slaves you have here. Why are they being taken away.” I narrow my eyes as I say this.

  His grin is smug and dirty. Makes me want to bathe just looking at it, but I hold my gaze as he explains. “These are not my slaves. These belong to a noble that I sold them to earlier today.” With that he seems to dismiss the children’s distress and continues the transfer.

  Stuffing down the anger I feel for separating another family I don’t comment further until we finish. “Now, I will be taking my property” the word leaves a bad taste in my mouth “and leaving.” As I turn to leave I can see that the exit is now blocked by guards and more are approaching. I see his plan now. Get everyone to go back to their gambling and forget about us. Then he apparently doesn’t care about future backlash. It seems his hatred of me has overcome his practical thinking. Maybe I pushed a little too far? Oh well. Screw this piece of garbage.

  “What is this?” I yell as loud as I can. “Betrayal after all!” The yell gets the attention of some people nearby but it’s much less than the huge group of people that were here before. The next few minutes are utter chaos. Not waiting for anything else I hit the nearest guard that lunges at me with a lightning bolt to the face. His scream is louder than any of the yelling I did before as his face chars and his eyeballs burst. The scream is cut short as he dies but others throughout the room take it up as panic grips many of the gamblers. Some run in random directions and others take up fighting the guards, whether for my sake or for the opportunity to make off with the coin on the tables I don’t know.

  I throw an Ice Lance at Trace but he dodges behind one of his body guards with wide eyes. He is only a level 13 but his guards are a level or two higher. Some even at the same level as I. Doesn’t help the body guard though. The large shard of ice takes him right in the heart and he clutches at it. Trace makes a run for it at this point and I can’t get at him as people and guards get in the way. Then my beautiful girls come to my assistance. Timbre plowing guards out of the way and the other two aiming to clear the area around me with magic and arrows. “Azzaria and Thia! Get our people out of here and guard them. Timbre and I will clear the way.

  After that Timbre starts blazing a path toward the front doors. We try to avoid hurting random people but a few get jostled around a little as we fight off the guards when they get to us. Few if any survive an encounter with Timbre head on, her bone armor active and a purplish light emanating from her weapon. Fewer still live past my follow up. When we get to the door I have Timbre continue to take point. When Azzaria gets to the door and my new slaves are streaming out I stop her for a second. “Lead this group to the location we agreed upon. I will catch up. There are a couple of others that need to join us.” As I say this I see Maka making her way out with the rest and sigh a little in relief.

  “You should take one of us with you. Timbre would be best.” She tells me as concern creeps into her voice.

  “No, I plan on making a quick getaway with the kids from earlier and I can move faster if it’s just me and them.” Seeing the frustration she feels I lean forward and grip her behind the head as I kiss her passionately. “Don’t worry, I’ll be fine. See you soon.” Not wasting any more time I use Folded Space a couple times to traverse across the room once again and to the door I saw the kids taken through. When I burst through the door I find myself in a hallway that has a couple of doors on either side and a stairway at the end. Not seeing anyone else I run down the hall to take the stairs. At the top I catch a glimpse of Trace about halfway down the hall and when he sees me he takes off toward another stairway at the other end of the hall we are in.

  I chase after him but he is pretty fast so I fire another Lightning spell at him. It barely catches his shoulder as he flings himself down the stairwell. About to pursue I stop in my tracks, hearing sobbing on the other side of the door I am standing next to. Putting my ear to the door I can tell it’s from children. Trying the door I find it locked. Thinking quickly I cast my new utility spell Frost. With my hand pressed tightly to where the door meets the frame I let the spell go to work After a few seconds I lean back, cock a foot in the air and thrust it forward as hard as I can. The frost covered mechanism is brittle and snaps from the force with a few splinters flying inward from the door frame. I always wanted to do that.

  Before I can congratulate myself I’m accosted by a guard that was in the room. Lunging forward with his arm extended, sword pointed right for my gut, the guard must have been waiting for someone to enter. I put up my arm defensively as I activate the shielding magic from my staff. I’m too slow though and take a large slash on my arm. The rest of the blow is deflected off course though so it doesn’t eviscerate me. Using my right arm to block wasn’t all I did. My left hand draws my dagger and activates the skill it has. The blade of my poniard ignites just before I plunge it through the boiled leather the guard is wearing and into his side. He screams as the blade continues to burn within him. Not wanting to waste anymore time I twist the knife as I pull him into the hall. Throwing him off to my left I drag the dagger through him, causing as much damage as possible.

  Stepping into the room I see the kids crying on the bed of the small room. Chiding myself for not using Phase to breach the room I quickly step up to them. I hear the guard in the hall go silent as I approach the children. Kneeling next to them I speak in what I hope is a comforting voice. “I’m going to take you away from here. Back to your mommy, but I need you to hold on to me very tightly. Can you do that?” Their tear streaked faces gain a little hope and they both nod in sync. “Good. Now hop on.” I turn around and they both jump on my back. They are small and not to heavy but their little arms go to the first place to hold on to. My neck. “Still…need…to...breath.” They loosen a little but it is still a little hard to breath. Not going to complain though.

  I step up to the window, push the shutters out and look at the next building over. Just close enough. I then use Folded Space to step over to the other building. I run across the roof of the single story house I’m on and use my spell to get to the top of another building. From there I use the spell to land on the ground and start running to the safe house Marcus promised us. Running and using Folded Space as I go I get to the house quickly
and see there is a man holding the door open and waving me in. When I get into the house I enter a living room. Then I turn to the questioning look from the man who was holding the door. “Close it and lock it. I should be the last.” With a nod he complies.

  Looking to the collars around the children’s necks I’m nervous about the fact they are bound to another. Directing my questions to anyone I ask “What can the collars do to escaped slaves?”

  The man looks to the children and grimaces. “The master can remotely cause the collar to immobilize or even kill. It can compel the wearer but the master of it must be close enough to give the directions.”

  Setting the kids down I turn back to the man, but before I can ask him where everyone else is I hear a door slam open somewhere in the house. A moment later three beauties are standing in the living room and rapidly taking in the situation. After seeing that there is no immediate danger Timbre walks up to me and slaps me on the shoulder. It’s actually enough to shave off a couple HP. “I know, but I couldn’t leave them. Now quick, we need to get into the basement so I can work on these two. Their collars are still bound to another.” At the urgency in my voice they quickly turn and lead me to a door that reveals a staircase down.

  The basement is rather spacious and all the slaves from the Golden Egg Casino take up less than half the room as they are sitting on the ground in one corner. Taking the middle of the room with the girls I hold the kids there as the two beastkin I pegged as their parents run over to hug them. “I need to try to remove the collars before someone tells the noble that is supposed to own them they are missing” I tell the parents. The parents and I get down in front of the children. Not wanting to waste any more time I reach out and touch the boy’s collar.