Watcher's Question: A LitRPG Saga (Life in Exile Book 2)

by Sean Oswald

  Faith: 3

  Regen Rate: 1/hour

  CHARISMA: 10

  Social Skills: +20%

  Teamwork: 3

  Regen Rate: 1/hour

  LUCK: 5

  +5% chance to avoid catastophroic effects

  +5% improvement on chance of loot drops

  +5% improvement on quality of loot drops

  Total XP: 4752XP to Next: 308

  Unspent Stat Points: 0

  Unspent Character Points: 12

  Traits:

  Where the Mind Leads the Body will Follow

  Tier 2: +20% Strength

  Skills:

  Running: 3

  Sense Motives: 10

  Speak Languages: 14

  Diplomacy: 50

  Knowledge- Research: 50

  Knowledge- Law: 3

  Survival- Forest: 14

  Survival- Desert: 7

  Tracking: 15

  Taunt: 1

  Dodge: 1

  Heavy Armor: 1

  Unarmed Combat: 30

  Archery: 5

  Long Blade: 20

  Weapon Specialization- Long Sword: 20

  Offensive Stance: 10

  Sneak Attack: 10

  Flanking: 10

  Quicken Spell: 11

  Esoteric Senses: 10

  Divination Magic: 10

  Identify

  Assess Enemy

  Sure Strike

  Shaping Magic: 20

  Minor Binding

  Minor Enlarge

  Minor Mending

  Dave was shaken out of his contemplation by a delicate feminine hand placed upon his arm. He didn’t need to turn his head to know to whom the hand belonged. His other traveling companion was Leyna, the Infiltrator from Max’s squad and the main reason that Dave had been reluctant to take the offered help. Karl was a man of few words, obviously used to long periods spent alone in the wilderness. Leyna, on the other hand, was a very social creature. She was a striking 26 year old blond who seemed to have a playful streak a mile wide. Worse though, her form of playfulness seemed to be a type of seduction. Dave supposed that was a chief part of her skill set as a spy, but it seemed she had quickly realized it made Dave uncomfortable and seemed to take a type of twisted pleasure in his awkward responses.

  “Well it will likely take Karl a little while to find the trail again. It gets much harder to track the rockier the terrain becomes. So that just leaves the two of us. Here alone. I guess we will have to find some way to pass the time.” Her voice had a deep sultry tone which was completely unnecessary.

  Jerking his arm away rapidly, produced the faintest of giggles from Leyna. “I think we will have plenty to do with cleaning up the camp. Karl is always telling us not to leave behind any sign that we were here.” Dave tried to school the expression on his face. His tone was all business. He would be lying if he tried to deny that it was flattering to have a beautiful young woman flirting with him, even though he knew, or suspected, that she was messing with him. It still made his skin tingle and caused feelings of guilt to rise up inside of him. He loved his wife, and although they in the middle of a fight now, that was no excuse for his mind to wander.

  To keep his mind from the sight, sound, and scent of Leyna, he thought back to the events just after the fight with the death knight, of his conversations with Max, and the realizations that dawned on him:

  “Wait, you mean you know about Get Smart?” Dave knew he sounded stupid as he fumbled over his words, but was taken back by the intensity of Max’s words and gaze.

  Max crossed the distance between them. “We can’t talk about this here. You and I need to find a private place to talk.”

  Everyone around them was staring. Max’s squad members seemed lost but no less confused than Emily and the kids. Holding up his hand Dave said, “Not without my wife and children.”

  “Are you sure? They don’t seem to know what we are talking about.”

  “They could know about it, but I don’t think they have ever watched the reruns like I did when I was a boy.”

  At the mention of reruns, Max’s face got a look of consternation. The blond woman along with another armored man behind her both stepped forward as if to intervene between Dave and Max. “Captain what is going on? Do you know this man?” This time the blond woman that Dave now knew as Leyna spoke with an intense curiosity rather than the honeyed tones she had used before. A moment of silence followed. Emily looked at Dave in confusion. Dave grabbed her hand and squeezed it while giving her that look that long term married couples sometimes share. A look which says, “Trust me and I’ll fill you in later.” At the same time, looks were passing between Max, Leyna, and the man behind her. Finally, a shared thought moved between Max and Dave.

  Just as the moment seemed about to burst Max said, “Leyna take the rest of the squad and see what assistance you can give the villagers. There are bound to be many wounded.”

  “But Captain…”

  “No buts. You have your orders.” Max’s voice took on the aura of command that seasoned leaders have.

  Clearly still wanting to argue, but respecting her Captain, Leyna turned and took the armored man with her to fulfill her orders. Meanwhile, Dave and family started to walk towards the mayor’s home with Captain Maxwell Smart in tow. As they got a bit further away, Mira asked, “What’s going on? Mom? Dad?”

  Emily moved from Dave to Mira putting an arm around her, and it was a testament to how everyone’s strange behavior had scared Mira that she allowed it.

  “Just hold on till we get to Talvenicus’ house. We don’t have a cone of silence, so we can’t talk out here.” Dave smiled as he replied, laughing at his own joke even though only Max snorted in response.

  The rest of the short walk passed without another word being spoken, but once they were around the kitchen table Max said, “So cut the jokes. Are you from Earth?”

  “I should cut the jokes? You are the one with the same name as the main character from an old comedy show.” Dave didn’t back down from Max’s stare.

  “Old? What are you talking about? I was watching the new episodes of Get Smart every Saturday night before I ended up here.”

  Now it was Dave’s turn to be confused. “How long have you been in Eloria?”

  Max responded, “It was hard to track time for part of my time here while I was imprisoned, but it can’t be more than five years. Is that why you are calling it an old show? Because it was from five years ago?”

  “Dude, I hate to break it to you, but it's been a lot more than five years. Get Smart played in the sixties originally, I think. I watched reruns of it with my grandfather in the 80’s when I was a boy.”

  Both men stared at one another till Emily broke in, “Wait, so this man is from earth too?” She looked at Dave but pointed at Max as she spoke.

  “It would appear so, but there may be a problem.” Dave spoke with his attorney voice trying to assess liabilities. He was grateful that Mira and Jackson were quiet but could still see the confusion on their faces.

  “What do you mean?” Both Emily and Max asked at the same time almost as if in stereo, Max’s voice the bass to Emily’s higher pitch. As soon as they spoke, they both looked at each other.

  “Well, from what Max is saying he left earth in the 1960’s but has only been in Eloria for less than five years.” Dave’s voice was clinical at this point as his mind was flexing around the potential issues presented by the time conundrum.

  “How is that possible?” Emily asked even as Max said, “What's the big deal?”

  “Well Max, when we left Earth it was 2019. I don’t recall exactly when Get Smart was first on tv, but it had to be at least fifty years ago, not a mere five years.”

  Now Jackson, the other sci-fi buff in the room spoke up. “So time moves slower on Eloria than Earth.”

  Everyone turned their eyes to the boy as he spoke, but Dave added, “It could mean that, or it could mean that people are being pulled from Earth at different p
oints in history and then placed in Eloria in relatively the same time period.”

  “So what? How does that change anything?” Mira asked.

  “Well, I guess it may not change anything for us right now, but that doesn’t make it insignificant. It may mean that whoever has brought all of us from Earth can bring people not only through space but also through time. So, we could theoretically run into Genghis Khan brought from Earth or someone from the far distant future with an understanding of technology outclassing what we have.” Dave spoke with excitement as he talked about the possibilities. The reactions that he received were all across the board. Mira rolled her eyes as if to reiterate her earlier question. Max seemed confused while Jackson was geeking out talking about the possibilities, too.

  The reaction that made Dave cringe both then, and now as he recalled it was from Emily. She got up in his face, almost yelling. “Will you please stop talking about this crap? None of it matters. What matters is that our little girl is missing. Did you forget that a monster has our child? Who knows what it’s doing with her. Do you even care? Maybe all you care about is this stupid game world. Don’t think I haven’t noticed how excited you are about this horror show our family has had to endure. You are probably even happy about it.” Both children stared at their mother, aghast at the tirade she was spewing out at their father.

  Dave knew there wasn’t much that he could say when Emily got like this. She was clearly worked up and unable to think rationally, but that didn’t make her words hurt any less. Dave was painfully aware of Sara’s absence and under Emily’s blistering criticism felt very guilty for having been excited about the possibilities which Max’s presence presented. He reached out to grab his wife, but she ducked under his arm and stepped back before striding out of the room. It was a clear testament to her emotional state that she left rather than continuing to engage with Dave. Emily was normally always for working through any discussion that they were having, sometimes for hours after Dave wanted the conversation to be over.

  Dave apologized to Max and said he needed to follow after his wife, but didn’t wait for any response from the big man. While Dave chased after Emily, he later learned that Mira and Jackson took it upon themselves to tell Max the story of how the Nelson family had ended up in Eloria. Even though Dave was able to catch up to Emily, he couldn’t seem to cross the gap that had opened up in front of them. No matter what he said, Emily was blaming him for Sara’s absence and for the very fact that they were in Eloria. He knew there was no reasoning with a broken heart, but he still wanted to feel at peace with his wife. The truth was that he too was distraught over Sara’s absence but didn’t know what to do about it immediately. He was hoping that Max would be able to provide some help. The only way that Dave eventually got her to return to the kitchen was by apologizing and taking responsibility for Sara’s kidnapping. He might not actually feel like it was his fault, but all he wanted in that moment was to make peace with his wife.

  Dave was brought back to the present again as he heard Karl return to camp. Looking around, he realized that he had finished cleaning up while lost in his memory. A grim expression on his face was the only outward sign of the pain the remembrance had caused him. Karl let them both know that he had found the trail. Without a word, Dave strode off towards the northwest, counting on Karl to point out if he deviated from the trail.

  Chapter Two

  “No blade is as sharp or claw as piercing as the razor edge of a wounded soul lost in its own grief.” — Words hidden in the journal of a nameless orc shaman along the Trail of Ruin

  Emily sat crying for what felt like the thousandth time in the last week. Around her, she was acutely aware of the twigs beneath her as she sat on them, the scent of forest pine, early autumn plants in full bloom, and rotting tree which must have fallen in a recent storm. All the earthy smells were welcome as she was lost in her grief. Somehow, even while she was often oblivious to the people around her, the words and sights which greeted her, she was still in tune with those scents as if they were a sort of aromatherapy helping to hold her wounded soul together. She knew that Mira was watching her worried but couldn’t bear another argument about how crying didn’t help anything. Mira had become so much more logical since arriving in Eloria. How she wanted to curse this place to the God of her childhood. Back in a time when things made sense around her. Now, she didn’t even know what to think. She felt so numb, so distant from everyone around her. How could God, or Shanelle, or whatever she was supposed to call God have allowed this to happen?

  She sat there during a short break in their march north thinking back over the events which had led her to being here. She felt betrayed by Dave and Mira who had ganged up on her to convince her that she had to make this trek even though she wanted nothing more than to be with Dave as he was looking for Sara. Why couldn’t he understand she needed him? They needed each other. In quiet moments, when she wasn’t overwhelmed with her personal grief, she could see that Dave was grieving too, but why couldn’t they do it together? In the past, each of her crises of faith had come with the support of family. When she had lost her father, Dave had been so kind and loving beside her. Even when they had their own marriage problems, she had felt like the two of them were in it together. Now, in the moment of her greatest personal catastrophe, she needed his support. She didn’t even fully have her faith to depend upon, and truth be told, she blamed God for this. To think that she had actually been excited by the idea of having there be a God she could speak to and hear actual answers from. Now, when she needed to know something, all she got was a quiet sense of certainty that Sara was still alive, or maybe that was wishful thinking. Maybe that was all faith was anyway, chasing after a man or woman in the sky to fix problems she needed to fix herself.

  Everyone else thought that she was crazy for insisting that Dave continue the search for Sara. Dave and Max had gone out every day with members of his squad, sometimes with Emily and sometimes alone. They had scoured the forest for miles in every direction. One search party had even gone as far as the ocean on magical horses summoned by Mira. Yet, the most they had eventually been able to determine was that the goblin had taken her baby girl in a northwesterly direction. The scouts seemed shocked by the speed with which the creature had moved. The others spoke in quiet whispers around her, but she refused to believe any of the horrible things they suggested. Sara had not been eaten by some monster. She was going to be found. Emily had no reason to believe this, but her broken faith insisted on it. Her mother’s love demanded it, and so, she was a jumble of confidence and fear, belief and doubt, tears and forced smiles. It was an untenable mental state to maintain but one which any parent who has lost a child would recognize.

  She thought back to the hope she had felt in those early searches. Dave kept assuring her that they would find Sara and bless Max, he worked as tirelessly as she and Dave did to find their daughter. Max almost became a member of the family in her mind. He was great with Jackson, showing him tips about how to use the mace he had as well as just being a positive male role model. The big man seemed a bit stiff around Mira at first, but as she learned more about the man and his past losses, it all made sense. Eventually, he ended up more connected to Mira than any of them, treating her as if she were his own daughter.

  All the searches ended abruptly on the fourth day after the battle of Eris’ Rise as the towns people were calling it, when a young squire rode into town announcing that the duke would arrive in town within the hour and all the people needed to be gathered to greet their liege lord. Initially, the squire hadn’t even named the duke, yet all of the villagers and Max’s squad seemed to know who he was talking about. As she looked closer at him, it was obvious why everyone knew who the squire served. His outfit was some sort of livery with the symbol of a boar emblazoned on a split field of green and white covering the chest of the young man’s tunic. His trousers corresponded and were a deep forest green, and even the small shield that he carried was covered in the same hous
e crest. Some words were written under the crest but in a language that she didn’t understand. Maybe Dave would be able to tell her what it meant. Speaking of Dave, he and Max had already left to search a little further to the west today on the back of conjured horses. Max had some skill which allowed them to move much faster than would normally be possible even on the horses.

  Emily saw the young blond woman who acted as Max’s second in command step up and start to speak to the squire. “Leyna,” Emily remembered the woman’s name. Normally, Emily was very good with people’s names but she had been so distraught over the past few days that she wasn’t her usual self. Beyond that, there was also the fact that Emily didn’t like Leyna very much. Oh the woman was nothing but polite to her face, respectful even. That didn’t mean that Emily hadn’t noticed the way she flirted with every man around her. Some of the young lumberjacks had taken to proposing marriage to her every day, as they were so smitten with her. It was something about how she did it that made each of the men seem oblivious to the fact that she was flirting with numerous other men. Max had assured her that it was harmless enough, just the way that Leyna was as an extension of her training as a spy. Nevertheless, Emily couldn’t get comfortable with a woman who seemed to shamelessly flaunt herself, especially in this otherwise very sleepy and conservative little town.

  Lost in those thoughts, Emily missed the rest of the conversation between Leyna, the squire, and Talvenicus who had joined them at some point. Once the squire was trotting off to the south, Emily queried the mayor about what was going on and learned that Duke Edwin Holstein was soon going to be arriving at the village. From what Talvenicus explained to her, this was the duke who ruled over this land, although it was newly settled, and no representative of the duke had been there since the town had been set up. Most of the villagers only knew him as the duke who had freed them from serfdom if they agreed to settle in this logging village. It also came through quite clearly that no one liked the duke very much and that his visit was a cause for great concern. Apparently, the duke somehow knew that the town had been attacked, but Talvenicus didn’t know how that could be possible.