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

by Thomas Whipple

  As people slowly start to emerge from the cover of the trees I can tell they are wearing the uniforms of Ploran soldiers. That wasn’t unexpected, but they were all covered in blood, most coming from the neck area. “Are they all undead?” I can’t help but ask out loud.

  Thia answer’s me out loud for the benefit of others despite not expecting one. “No. With my vision I can see them from here and they aren’t dead. At least I don’t think so. The sclera of their eyes is red, like they are filled with blood. I don’t see any decay and they do seem to be breathing.” Giving it a try I’m surprised that I can use Identify from this distance.

  Male Human Blood Thrall, lvl 23, Swordsman, Firebrand. HP: 100%.

  “What the hell is a blood thrall?” Again I’m thinking out loud but someone overhears me.

  Grondar’s head whips around from his observation of the forces arrayed against us to look at me when I say that. “Is that what they are?” At my nod he continues with a sad shake of his head. “They’re a product of vampire blood magic. They drain the victim of nearly all of their blood, then force them to drink some of the vampire’s blood. After that their will is bound through the blood magic in their veins to obey the vampire who created them. The conversion actually increases their physical stats some, but that comes with a reduced resistance to light magic.”

  Turning back to the bridge that crosses the river we can see they are lining up in front of it. Not seeing any heavy equipment I summon a few more automatons with their kaleidoscope of elemental power. I also cast Summon Salamander since I think it can use some ranged attacks. It comes through a bright red fiery portal and looks like an unusually large salamander of about three feet long, nose to tail, and is a red and black mottled coloration. Lining up against the wall, all of us with ranged attacks prepare. A moment later the whole formation of over two hundred bloody eyed former soldiers charges forward across the bridge at the signal of someone in the back. Grondar raises a hand for all to see and yells “Wait for my signal.” We wait in anticipation for the signal as tension builds. The thralls are moving quickly and get a quarter of the way across the river in a matter of seconds.

  Some of the newer recruits to the guard released early and a few arrows actually make it to the charging blood slaves, but the rest fall short. At about half way over the bridge leading to the town’s eastern gate Grondar drops his hand and shouts “Fire” for all to hear. Arrows and crossbow bolts come at the bridge from all along the wall. Thia releases a Ball and Chain skill that I never got to see her use before. As for me, I overcharged a Fireball in my right hand and Lightning in the left as we wait for them to get in range. Releasing the Lightning flings a thrall into the charging mass behind him, but it doesn’t kill him. The Fireball on the other hand impacts one man on the right side of the bridge, detonating spectacularly and sending a couple soldiers over the railing into the swift moving river. On top of that, those that were close catch fire and are constantly taking extra damage.

  The Lightning spell actually does more individual damage but with enemies so close together, over all, my Fireball has the most affect. So what do I do now. I start launching as many Fireballs as I can. One after another. It’s plain to see the foes we face are strong because only the ones I’ve knocked off the wall, and a few that have been taking significant damage from focused attacks, have stopped their charge over the bridge. Most of the thralls that get hit are back up a moment later to resume their headlong sprint. Next, the automatons step forward and raise their arms all at once, unleashing a wave of lightning. When it strikes the bolts of electricity all jump from one enemy to another, often overlapping. This takes down a couple dozen.

  As they get near the end of the bridge they start to break off and jump diagonally to the wall. A few of the blood thralls don’t get a grip and slide into the river to be swept away. At this I worry about if they will come out at a different point along the wall. I take a look downstream and see roots thrashing around in the water, tearing apart the thralls they snatch up. Satisfied Enora is taking care of the ones that head her way I turn back to the ones still here. They have claws they are using to dig into the wall and pull themselves upward. Despite the difficulty, many are approaching the top of the wall.

  The salamander I summoned chooses that moment to crawl over the wall and onto the outside of it. It starts to move across the surface like a gecko and approaches the nearest blood thrall before breathing a stream of fire onto it. I turn to another one that is nearby and cast an Ice Lance into it. The man looks up just in time to get the point of it right in the eye. It goes limp and falls back into the river. Next to me the rest of my party is doing their best to deal with the climbers. The highest concentration of blood thralls is at the gate where we are. There are more here than other places because they don’t need to make a jump over the river and the gate is much easier to climb.

  This is the first time I have fought with Gem so I’m interested in what she can do. Looking over briefly I find her casting a spell that looks like a cone of frost, but icicles the size of daggers are forming within and shooting forward. It’s effective at slowing down the climbers and is causing them damage as the icicles pierce their heads and shoulders. Watching her knocking the targets down to the paved road below gives me an idea. Turning to my own section I cast Lightning at one, causing it to spasm and release its grip on the wall. As the thrall plummets toward the ground I cast Folded Space and watch as the falling man disappears. A moment later I hear his scream from above as he falls from a much larger height to hurtle past the top of the wall. The body collides with another thrall making the climb up the gate. There is a crunching sound and they both fall to the ground below. Effective, but the mana cost was not very efficient.

  We’re knocking them down and killing enough of them to slow the advance but they are relentless. Minutes pass as we continue the fight. My salamander eventually falls when it’s caught by a couple thralls, breathing fire on them the whole time it is pried from the wall to be thrown into the river. It hits the water with a splash and a hiss as its red scales turn a gray color like metal quenched in a barrel. A moment later it pops out of existence and is gone. He did well though and the two that ganged up on him die a moment later to a Chain Lightning from Thia. As that is happening I’m throwing Fireballs into the back rows of blood thralls, their packed together numbers make it perfect for the area damage of my spell to cause maximum damage while the thralls wait for their turn to climb.

  Having killed about half of the attackers, thanks in large part to the automatons, the first enemy reaches the top of the wall. I catch a glimpse of it out of the corner of my eye as the nearest guardsman, armed with a spear, stabs and pushes the attacker from its perch. This is only the beginning as more hands come over the side of the wall to start pulling them over onto the defenders position. My group was able to hold off this eventuality a little longer than other parts, but soon I have to back off from the edge as the enemy closes the distance to the top. We are all forced to wait for them to come as our front line fighters step up to do battle and the rest of us support them.

  At first this is working well and we are able to hold, but soon the blood thralls have gained a foothold just to the north of my group. I turn in that direction after frying a dagger wielding thrall. I’m just in time to catch sight of the last person in the group to my left go down under the swords of two thralls. More thralls lay among the bodies of the five member group that was there. Even more thralls are joining the two already positioning themselves to defend their foothold. I use my command of the automatons to order them mentally and the ones to the north and south, four total with two on each side, turn to the blood thralls on the wall. A moment later there is a deadly crossfire of flames as they discharge jets of fire together.

  The automatons are useful but they aren’t necessarily fast, so when the two blood thralls that were there and another two that crested the wall charge through the flames they didn’t last long. They just couldn’t dod
ge or block fast enough against the upgraded soldiers. Even with the automatons’ quick destruction the assault was very damaging. The original two thralls died during the attack and the other two were severely damaged. I spare a second to cast an Ice Lace into the shoulder of one woman blood thrall that was giving Timbre trouble. The impact stumbles the woman and gives my dire wolf companion the opening she needs to crush the vampiric slave’s skull. Turning back I already see another two that have gained the wall to the north of me. Looks like they’re concentrating here now that there is less resistance in the section.

  Looking around I see everyone engaged in heated fighting. With no one else around to help out I turn back to the quickly growing crowd of red eyed soldiers. Downing a mana potion I renew my Mana Barrier and hit the first two approaching enemies with a Buffet that is packing a little extra umpf. The closest two go flying back to slam into two others that are just getting their footing on the top of the wall. All four tip over and fall off the edge. That section is where the bridge flairs out so they may land on it, but if they go far enough from the wall they will hit water. Either way they are out of my hair for now and probably the worse for wear. The enemies keep coming though and now they are bracing themselves in case I use Buffet again. I toss a Fireball at the four on the wall and it hits, but they aren’t dead. They are all higher level than me and pumped up on blood magic. If it wasn’t for my unusually high stats from my gear and Dark Horse I wouldn’t stand a chance.

  I felt a little guilty about having the best gear in my party in the past but at this moment I couldn’t be more thankful. I start alternating Flame Wave and Fireball. After a couple spells the first thralls fall, but two fell and four more made it to the roof. To make matters worse I can see that not all of them are coming in my direction and a few are trying to flank the nearby defenders. Light bulb moment. Now I feel like a cartoon character just from that thought…and maybe the fact that I’m hurling magic at vampiric thralls in another world. OK, not a cartoon character, but I definitely feel like I’m in an isekai anime for a second. Falling into some kind of harem trope where it was all the girls’ idea would support that thought though.

  Shaking off the weird thoughts that tug at my attention I carry out the idea I have. First I cast Earth wall to raise walls of stone that angle toward the spot where the thralls are climbing over. Normally I would funnel them the other way so I don’t have to worry about them surrounding me but this method does have an advantage. No longer can the breach here threaten the other sections nearby so they have to face me. The other thing it has going for it is evident a moment later. I throw a couple of Firballs at the group as they approach. The concussion in such close quarters and with them all squeezed together causes them to get knocked off their feet, the ones that don’t fall from the blast are getting tangled in the ones that did. Then I start hurling Flame Wave after Flame Wave in their direction. The funnel of stone walls concentrates the waves of magical flame and they burn hotter and do more damage.

  I’m a little punchy from all the fighting and from dumping mana into spells so fast. A chuckle emanates from my throat and my idea worked out better than I thought it would. I stop casting when I don’t see any more movement and consciously cut off the laughter that just wants to bubble up and over take me in hysteria. There is a pile of corpses laying on the ground between the smaller part of my Earth Walls. Wondering if any more are going to come up and worrying about everyone else I can no longer see, I still take a second to watch. Not seeing anything else coming up I’m just about to drop the walls by forcibly canceling my spell when there is movement in the charred bodies.

  I watch as an arm pokes out of the pile and then a shield shifts. Wondering what I should do to prepare, I nearly smack myself. I’m a damn mage, and I have plenty of ways to prepare. I start by renewing the earth walls and then summoning a Lesser Earth Elemental. The stones of the wall I’m standing on warp and bulge up until they shape into a humanoid figure about three and a half feet tall with no other features. Kind of creepy without a face but it’s under my control so I move on to the next summon. The Salamander appears without a hitch since we have been fighting long enough that the cooldown reset. For the first time I summon the Water Snake as well. It slithers into existence through a deep blue portal only the size of a plate, but plenty large enough for a wrist thick serpent to traverse. The snake is very plain except for its blue color, so dark that it’s almost black.

  As I’m preparing for battle I can hear the fighting on the other side of my stone barriers still continuing. I’ve also been keeping an eye on the movement while I cast. Three forms extricate themselves from their deceased companions. Getting a better look at them now that they are exposed I can notice they are better equipped than the others. Two are carrying large rectangular shields which I assume they used to defend against my fire. The other one carries only a saber and, despite the almost feral look in his eyes, I can see him calculating. I’m pretty sure this is the Thrall I saw directing the others from the back before the attack.

  They don’t move in at first and I use the small respite to position my summons. The elemental steps in front of me and a little to the right while the snake takes the left and the salamander the right. Focusing on Thia I contact her through our bond. “How is it going over there?”

  “Not good” comes her reply. “There is only a trickle coming over the wall now, but we are hard pressed. I don’t know how much longer Timbre can hold out. Gem is healing her but she is only able to do so much while we are all getting attacked.”

  “Damn. That isn’t good. Give her one of the mana potions to keep her going and take one yourself if you haven’t already. I might need some mana soon. I got three left over here but they look like the top dogs of this group” I tell her.

  There is a pause from her end and when she responds I can feel her concern. “Do you need us to Merge?”

  At this point the three in front of me start to advance forward. “No, you are needed over there and soon my Earth Walls will fall. Hopefully you can help then or I you. Got to go.” They are close enough to Identify so I renew my Mana Barrier so it doesn’t drop at the most inconvenient time and use Identify on them all, starting on the bigger shield carrier with a metal banded club. Then I check the sword and board user, with the swordsman last.

  Male Human Blood Thrall, lvl 24, Shieldman, Juggernaut. HP: 95%.

  Male Human Blood Thrall, lvl 24, Shieldman, Mirage Knight. HP: 93%.

  Male Human Blood Thrall, lvl 25, Swordsman, Sonic Fencer. HP: 99%.

  Not good.

  Chapter 22

  These guys are bad news. With the two defenders covering for their leader I doubt I can win. Not really having much choice, I order my summons to attack. The salamander starts belching fireballs at the three across from us. The Golem of stone takes a step forward to intercept, and the snake slithers off somewhere to try and get the drop on them. I just wait for more of my mana to replenish and cast a haste on myself. Then I start charging up a Frost spell. When they get close I spray them all with the chill mist. Charging through the mist I can see they are slowing down, but not by much.

  As the two shield bearers approach the elemental swings a slow punch at the Mirage Knight. He doesn’t move the shield to block the hit and it connects, or it should have. The elemental stumbles forward, having hit nothing. It’s almost like he moved to the side just enough to avoid the hit, but considering his subclass and the fact I didn’t see any movement from him I can guess it’s a form of illusion. I flex my will a little and the elemental switches targets to the juggernaut, keeping him occupied by hammering on his shield. Meanwhile I loose a Flame Wave followed by a fireball. The two spells make it impossible to miss in these close quarters because of the area effect they have. This time the knight does raise his shield to take the brunt of the attacks. He still takes some damage but not very much.

  The group of three is slowed down some by the juggernaut as he pushes through the beating my elemental
is putting on. The summon isn’t looking so good though. As I look over, I see it take another shield bash to the chest that widens the cracks in its form the Juggernaut’s previous abuse caused. Switching tactics a little I cast a Wind Slash horizontally with the Mirage Knight at its center and charge up another spell. The first spell reveals his true location, giving me a target. Pointing at my advancing enemy, I release the Lightning at only a few feet away. The spell impacts the shield again, but with the stutter in his step I know some of it got through. With no room left to retreat I create a Mana Decoy where I’m standing as I step back off the wall into Folded Space.

  My feet land like I was only taking a single step over even ground and I’m on the other side of the wall behind them. From here I watch as the juggernaut finishes off the elemental by slamming it with his shield and forcing it off the wall. The salamander is still firing off little versions of my Fireball and gets a good hit in on the knight’s side. The three of them finally notice my decoy, surprised by the glowing form of myself standing placidly in front of them. They take a couple swings at it and it fades out of existence. Where I’m really standing, I’m close to the outside of the wall where the Thralls have been coming from. Charging another couple spells as the leaders of the assault are confused, I also take a look over the edge. Relief floods through me as I find no more blood thralls climbing up.