Warfang: (Sky Realms Online Book 5): A LitRPG Series

by Troy Osgood

  Hall shook his head. They were still back to waiting for Tulla to wake up.

  Walking away from the iron nail, Hall could sense the change. The air was cleaner, didn’t feel as dirty. He’d had a weird itching sensation through his body, being near the pedestal; now it was gone. Roxhard had gathered what little loot there was on the three bodies, spreading it out along the top of the hill.

  Looking to the east, Hall could see the sun starting to peek over the horizon. Had they been out all night? He was exhausted, his body battered and bruised. He needed sleep. But not yet. Looking down at the pile, he saw the axe the Warscourge had used, a talisman from the Runespeaker, and the wand and a couple of rings from the Norn. There was a small pile of jewels and some coins. For the toughness of the fights, the rewards are pretty lacking, Hall thought.

  “The Speaker’s robe?”

  “Too ripped,” Roxhard replied. “It was one of the damage-absorbing ones.”

  “A shame that they get destroyed,” Hall muttered. It would have been nice to get one of the robes to study.

  “I’d like the axe,” Roxhard said, a little quiet.

  Hall looked to the Dwarf. Thick beard, deep eyes, face like a rock. He looked to be a couple of hundred years old, chiseled from the mountains. But at moments like this, Hall could see the teenager that Roxhard truly was coming through. He looked down at his feet, embarrassed to have asked. Hall wasn’t sure why he’d be embarrassed. Roxhard was the only axe user in the Breakridge Irregulars; any magical axes should be his.

  The axe Roxhard currently used was nothing special. Anything would be an upgrade.

  Thunderous Axe

  Attack Power +4

  Damage 2D8 +3

  Strength +1

  Protection +1

  Durability 25/25

  Weight 18 lbs

  On successful hit has 30% chance of Knockdown, causing the target to stumble from the blow and fall to the ground. 15% chance of Disarm upon successful Knockdown.

  Hall was surprised. The axe was impressive. Epic quality at least, maybe even artifact. It was huge too. A foot or two longer than what Roxhard had now, the head maybe twice as big. Hall wasn’t sure how the Dwarf would hold it. He wasn’t sure, but it looked like the weapon might have shrunk, no longer being held by the large Desmarik.

  It was made out of a light blue material, dull, all one piece. The shaft was wrapped in dark leather for nearly all of its length. Runes ran along the edges of the large axe-head, the top blade curling back so far that it almost touched the long spike off the top, the bottom having a smaller curve, but more of a hook, enough space to possibly wrap around a spear or sword.

  “Of course,” Hall said, reaching over to clap Roxhard on the shoulder. “That thing is a massive upgrade.”

  Roxhard smiled. Hall turned away as the Dwarf shoved his old axe into his inventory pouch. No matter how many times he saw the distortion as an object shrank to fit into the pouch, Hall didn’t like watching it. Crouching down, Roxhard slowly lifted the heavy-looking axe.

  “What material is this?” he asked.

  “No idea. We’ll have to ask Tunwell when we get back home.”

  Holding the axe before him, taking a couple of steps back, Roxhard gave the weapon a couple of practice swings. Hall had expected him to fall or have to step, somehow compensating for the extra length and weight, but Roxhard didn’t. His feet stayed in their stance as he swung the weapon horizontally and vertically, moving to diagonal slashes, stopping the swing short and back the other way.

  “It’s so much bigger and heavier, but doesn’t feel like it when I’m using it,” Roxhard said, amazed. “I can’t explain it.”

  Hall laughed. They lived in a world of floating islands held aloft by magic. Why did there need to be an explanation for how a magical weapon behaved? But that wasn’t true; they weren’t in that world. Not really. They were in a game world made up of lines of coding and data. There didn’t need to be an explanation. But as he looked out over the forest, watching the sun rise, Hall knew it was more than that. The world felt real. There were many moments, more than moments, where he forgot he was in a game. It could be days before the thought would hit him again.

  He sighed, looking back at the rest of the items. No stats or text appeared, which meant they would need to be Scryed. Tulla could do it, when the fairy awoke, but she was only able to Scry once a day. They really needed to get a high enough level Witch in Skara Brae.

  Gathering everything up, putting it into his pouch, he went to rejoin the others near a small fire that the Rangers had gotten going. One of them, he wasn’t sure which, had started making breakfast.

  It hadn’t been Dain. The elder Ranger was standing near the depression in the hilltop where the acid had burned away the stone and the body of Ganner. There was nothing left. The acid had dried up, leaving pocked stone behind.

  “I’m sorry,” Hall said, coming up next to Dain.

  “Nothing to be sorry for,” Dain said. “He knew what he signed up for. What we all signed up for.” He sighed, glancing toward the horizon and the sun. “I’ve seen a lot of good Rangers die and die young. Good people. And I’m still here.”

  He shook his head, staring down at the crater.

  Hall walked away, letting him have the moment.

  “Why not just push it over?”

  Tulla still hadn’t woken. Avril and Lissie had gone down through the tunnels, joining the two Druids and Angus at the bottom. Hall had expected some kind of service for Ganner, but Dain had said that would wait until they were back at Timberhearth Keep. They passed the time waiting for the fairy resting, Leigh going from one to the other and healing what she could.

  It was boring, but no one knew what else to do, until past lunch Caryn had asked the question.

  Hall started to respond, saying it wasn’t a good idea, but stopped.

  Why wasn’t it?

  No one else was raising objections, all just looking at each other.

  Was the worst outcome the pedestal not breaking? And they’d be back where they were now, just at the bottom of Warfang Hill.

  Or was the worst the pedestal breaking and the nail exploding?

  Was that possible?

  There was only one way to find out.

  Hall stood up.

  They were all sitting around the remains of the small fire, doing nothing. Picking up his spear, the others watched as he walked to the pedestal. It was still in the middle of the hill, dozens of feet from any edge. He looked around, getting his bearings. The cave entrance was to his left, which was west, the entrance to the tunnel through the mountain to his right and northeast. That made the best direction to push the pedestal over to the south.

  Hall moved around to the north side, putting the butt end of the spear against the bottom of the pedestal. Looking straight ahead, he didn’t see much in the way. A fairly straight and smooth path to the hilltop’s edge.

  He looked at the others, all of them standing up and moving further away to the northern edge. No one was saying anything. Sharra was looking into the cage, giving Tulla a poke, trying to rouse the fairy. She couldn’t.

  Taking a deep breath, Hall pushed.

  The pedestal moved an inch, pushing dust and small stones ahead of it.

  The angle wasn’t great, but Hall had no desire to touch the pedestal. Already this close, he could feel that strange itchiness spreading through his body. The air near the pedestal just felt wrong.

  Bit by bit, he pushed the stone. It wasn’t that heavy, just awkward.

  Caryn and Avril passed, the two women clearing debris out of the path. In the short distance he had pushed it, the pedestal had gathered a good amount in front of it. He walked out in front, using the spear to clear it away. Stepping back, he was surprised to see the pedestal moving again, faster than when he had pushed it.

  Jackoby grunted, leaning into a long stick he had found somewhere on the hilltop. Hall joined him, adding his strength.

  Even with the t
wo of them, Caryn and Avril clearing the way, the pedestal didn’t move very fast.

  Finally they stopped, only a couple of inches between the edge of the pedestal and the long drop to the forest floor below.

  Hall stood at the edge, looking down. It was a long way. He hoped it was long enough. Dain walked into view, coming from around the west side where the cave entrance was. The elder Ranger waved, Hall returning it. Dain disappeared back the way he had come.

  Hall gave him a couple of minutes to get back to the others. They had all gone down except for Hall. The plan was they would head into the forest to the north, a couple of hundred feet away. Hopefully enough distance if something went wrong.

  Jackoby had volunteered to be the one to push the pedestal over. The first. Everyone else had joined in. Hall had finally ordered them all down the hill. The decision had ultimately been his, and he would be the one to do it.

  He reasoned he had the best chance of surviving. With Leap, he could potentially jump off the top of the hill and into the trees, using the skill’s ability to land safely. Similar to when he had jumped off the gigantic Fallen Ember tree and onto the stump below. Except this time there wouldn’t be a large flat surface to land on, just dozens of thin-limbed and pointy trees.

  He tried not to think about that part.

  Nothing would go wrong.

  Judging enough time had passed for Dain to make it to the others, Hall put the butt end of the spear against the pedestal. Taking a deep breath, he pushed.

  The edge came up, the front of the pedestal out over nothing. Hall stopped, watching the pedestal, waiting to see if it would fall. It didn’t.

  Leaning into the spear, Hall pushed it some more. Almost half the pedestal hung out over nothing, the stone not teetering.

  Grumbling, Hall gave one last push, stepping back quickly.

  He watched, the pedestal balancing, mostly over the edge, part of it still on the stone. Gravity took over, pulling at the heavier end of the stone that had nothing beneath it. It tipped, sliding off the top of the hill.

  Hall ran for the northern edge.

  He could hear the crashing as the stone bounced down the hill. Hall couldn’t tell if it was breaking apart, or the noise was pieces of the hill falling down with it.

  Getting to the northern edge, he crouched low, waiting for something to happen.

  Chapter 45

  “You should have waited for me,” Tulla grumbled.

  The fairy was at the bars of her cage, glowing a fierce purple, glowering at them. Her small eyes moved from one to the other angrily. They stayed on Hall the longest.

  “Idiots,” she said, moving away from the bars, sitting cross-legged on the floor of the cage with her arms crossed. “Luckily, it didn’t explode and destroy the whole mountain.”

  Hall hoped she was kidding or truly thought the chances of that were slim. He didn’t want to know how close they had come. But it had worked.

  Tulla had just woken up a couple of minutes ago, finding them all in a circle, looking down at the broken pieces of the pedestal. Or the majority of them. Shards had scattered all through the forest, pieces breaking off on the first impact with the hill. More and more as the pedestal cracked and shattered with each hit against the hard stone face. What was left shattered on impact with the ground below.

  No rune remained, every one destroyed. That surprised Hall, being unable to find a single rune intact. The odds of it happening were slim, but it had. There was no sign of the black iron nail. It had either fallen into the forest or disappeared with the pedestal’s destruction.

  The only reason he was sure the nail had been destroyed was the quest notification.

  QUEST COMPLETE!

  The runed pedestal and black iron nail had been drawing power from the ley line to fuel the spread of the corruption. With their removal from the source of power and destruction, the corruption of the Northern Territories can start to be healed.

  THE NORTHERN BLIGHT III

  Now that you have discovered the source of the corruption, you must now end it so that the Northern Territories can start to heal.

  Destroy the source of the corruption 1/1

  Rewards: +300 Experience, +100 Faction Reputation with the Green Cloak Rangers, +200 Faction Reputation with the Druids of the Grove

  QUEST COMPLETE!

  With the destruction of the source of corruption, you have started the process for the land to rid itself of that corruption, returning to its natural state. The Green Cloak Rangers have begun training their members in the tactics you have taught them about the demons. Taking Cliff’s Walk from the Expedition Lumber Company, you have started the defense of the Northern Territories.

  THE GREEN CLOAK RANGERS III

  Teach the rangers what you know about the demons 1/1

  Aid in the defense of the Northern Territories 1/1

  Rid the land of the corruption 1/1

  Rewards: +300 Experience, +300 Faction Reputation with the Green Cloak Rangers

  In the light of day, he could see how much the woods around the hill had been corrupted. There was barely any green left, mostly shades of purple and black. If he looked closely, green spots could be seen in some of the purple leaves. Small, but growing.

  Already, Leigh was directing the Druids in how to heal the corruption. It would take a long time, Hall knew, but Leigh was also confident that the land would heal naturally. The ley line had helped in spreading the corruption; it would also help in cleansing it.

  In the light of day, Hall could see the damage that had been done to his spear from the Alikash’s acid. The smooth ironwood was scarred and pitted in numerous spots, some small, others an inch long. The worst damage was to the tip and the top of the spear. Almost entirely black now, the smooth and sharp edges were now jagged and pitted. Once he had seen the extent, Hall had pulled up the weapon’s stats, afraid of what he would see.

  Exceptional Breakridge Ironwood Spear

  Attack Power +2

  Damage 1d6 +2

  Agility +1

  Durability 5/12

  Weight 3 lbs

  The durability had taken a considerable hit. Weapons lost durability over time, but they could be repaired and regain it, even wooden weapons like the spear. Some magical weapons regained it over time naturally.

  Hall didn’t think even repairing the weapon would help it now. The Valedale Gnomes, who had crafted the spear and given it to him, were too far away to repair it anyways. He didn’t think the Rangers had any woodcrafters with the required skill, and they were weeks away in Timberhearth. He was going to have to be careful, or it could shatter in the middle of combat.

  And there was going to be a lot of that in his future.

  The Northern Territories were still held by the Expedition Lumber Company. There were demons and Desmarik to be dealt with. Towns and mills to be liberated. The fighting was far from over.

  They entered Cliff’s Walk near midday. It had been an easy and slow walk back from Warfang Hill. All were hurting, wounds that only rest could heal. There was a sense of urgency, still so much to do, but Hall and Dain didn’t want to push it.

  A day wouldn’t make a difference.

  Already there were changes in the world around them. The corruption was still thick in the woods, but spots of green were appearing, driving the purple tint away. They stopped for breaks, and every time, the three Druids would tend to a tree or a bush around them. The corruption would fade from where they touched, natural color returning and spreading.

  Hall wasn’t sure what their next move should be. Sweep down the eastern shore of Graymalkin Lake and deal with those captured towns and mills, joining up with the Rangers to the south? Head east to Tabard Port and confront the threat directly?

  The Warscourge and Runespeaker had been tough, but Hall knew they weren’t the ones in charge of the Desmarik forces. He still had the quest to stop the demon summoner.

  Maybe that made the most sense? With a small group, they could get past all
the Expedition patrols and forces, sneak into the city, and take out the command structure.

  At the very least, deal with the Desmarik and remove the demons from the field. The Greencloak Rangers could deal with the Expedition forces after that.

  The more he thought about it, the more Hall liked that idea. But would Dain? Did it make sense to bring Trello and Surri along, or send them south to cleanse the corruption?

  All the questions could wait. For now they had to rest.

  Villagers walked out of their homes, cautiously at first, but more excitedly once they saw who was approaching the village. The village leader, Jeric, was at the head of a large group.

  “Did you succeed?”

  “Yes,” Hall replied, fighting back a yawn. He was leaning heavily on the now scarred spear.

  Jeric studied him, noting how he walked. The older man looked at the rest of the group. His eyes widened at the state they were in. If he noticed one missing, he didn’t say.

  “You all look worn,” he did say.

  Hall just nodded, suddenly very tired.

  “Come on,” Jeric said, motioning to the village and villagers behind him. “We’ll get you all some food and a place to rest. The least we can do.”

  Hall smiled, glad to hear it. He looked over the village. There hadn’t been much time before, but now he needed to send messages to Skara Brae and the Dwarves down at Timberhearth Keep. He had to let them all know what was happening and that it would be a very long time before he was home.

  Epilogue

  The creature reared up before her.

  Front legs kicked out, claws at the end of the paws slashing through the air. A long tail whipped behind it. Leather armor covered a muscled torso, two large arms grabbing a long spear, the rough stone tip aimed down at her. Head like a large cat growled, yellow eyes glaring at her with hatred. White fur, with gray striping, covered the Feraltaur’s body.