Nova Terra: Liberator - A LitRPG/GameLit Adventure (The Titan Series Book 5)

by Seth Ring

  As he connected with the elemental energy of the earth a deep sense of calm flowed through him. He could feel his body becoming vast and powerful. Already abundant, his vitality seemed to connect to a boundless world under his feet, restoring him with each breath he took. Settling into an unending rhythm, Thorn could feel the [Stone Heart] in his chest expanding and contracting as it cycled earth element energy through his body. Without regard for time, his thoughts were filled with the boundless land as he joined it in breathing.

  *ding*

  In a flash, two hours had passed, and the last wisps of the potion that Alph had created were sucked away by the [Aeon Curse]. Hungry for more life, the [Aeon Curse] looked for another source of vitality. Sensing Thorn’s life force it wrapped itself around him again, looking to consume the remaining life in his body.

  Rapidly eating away at Thorn’s lifeforce, the [Aeon Curse]’s duration began to grow again, waking Thorn from the peaceful meditation he was enjoying. Feeling his life beginning to slip away, Thorn reacted instinctively, drawing the power of the earth under his feet up into his body. Like an all-consuming tide, the elemental energy poured into Thorn’s body, wrapping itself around the heavy energy of the [Aeon Curse].

  As if it could sense danger, the [Aeon Curse] reacted strongly, bursting out with power of its own. The remaining duration of the curse fell by a whole hour but the curse was strengthened tremendously. Fighting back against the earth elemental energy that had surrounded it, the [Aeon Curse] began to consume Thorn’s life force as quickly as it could, causing him to immediately feel drained.

  Chapter Forty-Nine

  Like two ancient behemoths the energy of the [Aeon Curse] that infected Thorn battled against the earth elemental energy that he had drawn into his body with his [Spiritual Sense]. After consuming a part of its remaining duration the [Aeon Curse] had grown significantly stronger. Reaching out with its slimy grasp, the [Aeon Curse] tried to surround Thorn’s chest, directly attacking the core of his life force. Understanding its intent, Thorn moved the earth elemental energy under his command to intercept. Using his [Spiritual Sense], the earth elemental energy crashed into the [Aeon Curse], piercing into it like a spear.

  The [Aeon Curse] surged, staging a counter attack of its own as it tried to surround the earth elemental energy spear head and rip it from Thorn’s control. As they fought, Thorn’s sharp gaze noticed that the edges of the sludgy [Aeon Curse] energy was burning away. Every time it encountered his earth elemental energy it would unravel slightly, tiny fragments of arcane words evaporating into the air.

  Sensing the path to success, Thorn reigned in his [Spiritual Sense]. Gathering it into his body, Thorn cut off his access to the outside world to increase his focus and took a deep breath. As he breathed out his [Spiritual Sense] plunged downward, racing deep into the earth. Ten feet, twenty feet, fifty feet, his perception continued to sink deeper and deeper into the earth. One hundred feet. Two hundred feet. Past the roots and worms of the forest. Past the rocks and the tiny microorganisms that dwelled on them. Down into the deep rock where the heat and pressure started to rise.

  From deep in the earth, Thorn began to draw the formidable earth elemental energy up through his [Spiritual Sense]. Using his [Spiritual Sense] to envelop the earth elemental energy, he pulled as much earth elemental energy up toward him as he could. Like a geyser, the earth elemental energy shot into his body, bringing with it a tearing pain as Thorn’s body was unable to handle the sheer volume of energy rising from the ground.

  “Uh, guys? Can you feel that shaking or am I crazy?”

  Corvo was the first to sense the huge amount of energy rising from deep within the earth to surround Thorn. Looking at the others, Corvo only saw them shaking their heads, but his words were soon proved out as Akira and all of the Children of the Moon suddenly grew quiet. Slowly they began to inch away from where Thorn sat, their fur rising up on their backs.

  [Master, is...is everything okay?]

  Akira’s voice intruded on Thorn’s focus, alerting him to the fact that something was going on outside of his body.

  [Yes, everything is fine. Why? What’s going on?]

  [There is something deep underground releasing a lot of power. It seems like it is coming from underneath you, master. Be careful, if it gets angry we’ll all die.]

  As the earth elemental energy from deep underground flowing into Thorn continued to strengthen, Akira’s voice grew more and more nervous. Confused at first, Thorn used his [Spiritual Sense] to direct his perception throughout the earth underneath him, carefully searching for a sign of the creature that Akira was talking about. Unable to see even the shadow of such a creature, he put the matter into the back of his mind and concentrated on using the earth elemental energy he had drawn out of the ground to surround the [Aeon Curse].

  Bit by bit, the earth elemental energy wore away at the edges of the curse, grinding it apart. Twice more the [Aeon Curse] strengthened itself by consuming its duration, but the amount of earth elemental energy Thorn commanded was endless and finally, after nearly three hours, the last bit of the [Aeon Curse] was crushed. With a shimmer the turbid energy vanished, leaving Thorn’s body feeling full of energy.

  Letting out a breath of heavy air, Thorn opened his eyes and stood up. His arms stretched up to their full height as he took in a breath of fresh air. A wide smile stretched across his lips as he reviewed the dangerous encounter that he had just experienced. The [Aeon Curse] was a nasty thing, but it had proven no match for the elemental energy he had gathered. More than pleased that he had survived, Thorn was even happier that he had discovered a way to train his [Spiritual Sense].

  Though the growth of his [Spiritual Sense] had slowed after the first two hours, it still showed clear improvement from his efforts at manipulating a huge amount of earth elemental energy. Resolving himself to continue to practice, Thorn let out a contented sigh and nodded to the people watching him. Opening his mouth, Corvo beat him to the punch.

  “I don’t care. I really don’t want to know.” The Elven avatar’s face was stone cold. “I’m sure that knowing how you just defeated that curse will just make me mad, so I don’t want to know.”

  “Haha, it's so true.” Mina laughed. “We can just chalk it up to Cheater McCheaterson cheating. That way no one will die of jealousy.”

  About to protest, Thorn saw that even Heidi was nodding in agreement and could only sigh in defeat. Duratan was the only one who did not understand what was going on, and after looking at the annoyed expressions around him, nudged Athena who was grinning proudly.

  “What are they talking about?”

  “Thorn is playing the most broken character in existence, that is what we are talking about.” Athena said with a chuckle. “He seems to have an uncanny knack for turning certain death into a mild inconvenience.”

  “Oh, but it goes beyond that,” Corvo sneered. “It would be one thing if it was only surviving. But no, he seems to turn every bad thing that happens into a way to get stronger.”

  “Jealous much?” Mina teased.

  “Yes!”

  “Haha, well, I’ll do my best to rub off on you a bit more.” Thorn chuckled, patting Corvo lightly on the shoulder. “But what happened with that Orc Shaman? How did you guys get away from him?”

  “He never chased us.” Heidi said with a shake of her head.

  As the subject turned back to the narrow escape that they had just experienced, everyone’s faces became serious, their eyes locked on Thorn as they waited for his explanation of what had happened. Closing his eyes, Thorn thought over the fight carefully.

  “I don’t have the clearest picture myself. All I know is that there was some sort of field around the Shaman.”

  “Arhtu.”

  “Yeah, Arhtu. It seemed as if the energy field around Arhtu was made up of the curse. The closer my weapon got to him the more of the curse I absorbed. At the same time, he did something. There was a command, though I could not hear it clearly. When he a
ctivated it, part of the curse was transferred to me. I tried to power through it, but that only made the curse stronger. After that, everything is a blur. I got knocked backward and then the next thing I knew something disgusting was being poured down my throat which cleared my mind long enough to transform back into my [Wolf Form] and make it back to the harbor.”

  “You’re welcome,” Alph grinned and gave Thorn a thumbs up. “The nastiness helps the potion wake the target up.”

  “Corvo, any idea what is going on?”

  “Nothing concrete without gathering more information. My best guess is that Arhtu the Cursed carries this [Aeon Curse] and then has some way to attach it to someone who is within a specific distance or meets specific conditions. Maybe attacking him? I’m not sure.”

  “It might be connected to the amount of damage that the person does.” Mina said, scratching her head and throwing a glance at Akira who had transformed back into her small form and climbed up into Thorn’s arms. “When Thorn attacked he picked up a huge dose of the curse, but nothing happened to me. When Akira attacked from close range nothing happened either.”

  “Ooh, you think that Thorn’s attack was strong enough to absorb the entire curse at once?”

  “Dunno, but it wouldn’t surprise me.” Mina shrugged. “It would not be the first time he has one-shot a boss.”

  “Regardless, we can think about how to defeat Arhtu later.” Thorn said, drawing everyone’s attention. “I am positive that we’ll encounter him again. For now, we need to organize our raid. Let’s get the Charging Wolf Army ready to go.”

  “Now? Don’t you need to rest? You just defeated an insane curse, aren't you tired?” Duratan asked, confusion evident in his expression as the rest of the nearby players began to get ready to leave.

  “Thorn? Tired? Oh, you poor, poor man.” Corvo patted the avatar of Skoll on the shoulder sympathetically.

  While Corvo began to explain to Duratan the true sorrow of serving under a freak like Thorn, the players of the Charging Wolf Army gathered outside of the gate. After giving directions to the players who were staying to guard the harbor, Thorn transformed back into his [Wolf Form]. With the [Aeon Curse] defeated Thorn’s midnight black fur had regained its glossy sheen. This time Thorn assigned Alph and Mina to ride on Akira and carried Athena on his back as they set off for the nearest Orc supply camp. Rushing through the forest, the Charging Wolf Army followed Thorn closely.

  The trip to rescue Alph from the Orcs who were chasing him had been completed at a dead sprint, but this time Thorn led the army forward at a much slower pace. Knowing that they would be moving for a few days, Thorn did not want to exhaust the players or the Children of the Moon that they rode. Still, their pace was brisk, and after a few hours they began to close in on the first supply camp.

  Calling for the army to stop, Thorn sent a few scouts ahead to check it out while the rest of the army hunkered down to rest. Each of the players pulled carefully dried meat and buckets of water out of their inventories. The meat had been prepared before they left the valley of the Children of the Moon and each of the players in the Charging Wolf Army carried enough for their companion to eat for a full week. Thorn was not nearly as hungry as normal, so after finishing off two steaks, a pie, and half a gallon of tea, he brought out a plate of pastries for Akira to enjoy.

  [Akira,] Thorn spoke through the mind connection to his battle pet. [You mentioned that there was something dangerous underground when I was meditating. What were you sensing? I couldn’t find anything.]

  [Master, you couldn’t feel it?] Akira’s mouth paused mid bite as she stared incredulously at Thorn. [How did you not feel it? It had gathered so much elemental energy! I don’t know what kind of creature it was, but that level of energy is pretty incredible. It was even more energy than I can handle and I am a True Ailurade. I mean, I have more fire energy, and fire energy is certainly better than that stinky earth energy, but it was pretty scary. The last time I saw that much energy was around Big Brother Vento.]

  [Big Brother Vento?]

  [Hm? What about him?]

  [Why are you calling him big brother?]

  [Oh, he told me to call him that because we’re all ancient species and us ancient species have to stick together.]

  Thinking about it, Thorn could only shrug. Having an Imperial Roc for a big brother was not a bad deal however you sliced it, so he brought the conversation back to what he was curious about.

  [So, does Vento have a lot of air elemental energy?]

  [Yeah, he has a whole sky full.] Akira said as she carefully selected a new pastry. [But he hides it in his feathers really well.]

  [Is that how you do your magic? With your fire elemental energy?]

  [That’s how all magic works, master. Or at least, that's how it works for us ancient species.]

  Mulling over what Akira had said, Thorn tried to organize what he had heard. It was obvious to him that the creature Akira was worried about was actually him. The overwhelming pressure she and the other animals felt had come from his accumulation of earth elemental energy.

  “Hey Mina.”

  “Yeah? What’s up?”

  “Can you describe how you use mana for me?” Thorn asked.

  “Uh, sure? I just channel it into my spells.”

  “And then it just recharges? Where does it come from?”

  “Uh.” Mina gave Thorn a blank look and then looked around for help.

  “Mana comes from the ambient energy in the world.” To Mina’s relief, Athena was sitting close enough to have heard Thorn’s question. “Mana is a mixture of all of the different kinds of elemental energies. It is an amalgamation, so it doesn’t matter what sort of mixture you take in. So long as you get enough. Once mana enters a player it loses its connection with the element it was part of and becomes pure arcane energy. That’s why it can be used for any spell.”

  “Are there people who can use elemental energy for their magic?”

  “No, strictly speaking that wouldn’t be magic. That would be elemental manipulation. Take Akira for example,” Athena said, scratching Akira behind her ears. “She can manipulate the fire elemental energy that she gathers and produce different effects with it. Damage, healing, body transformation. But those are not spells. The disadvantage is that she needs to gather the fire element before she can do that, but the advantage is that they’re not spells so they can’t be blocked by counterspelling or any other kind of negation magic.”

  [Master, I gather my fire from the sun. That is why I like taking naps during the day.]

  “Most creatures that use magic are actually using elemental manipulation. They gather elements from the world around them to use. That is one of the things that makes them so tough to fight against.” Athena said. “I’m sure there are people who can do the same, but I’ve never met anyone like that.”

  Before Thorn could continue asking any more questions, his senses tingled, causing him to look up. The scouts were back and it was time to attack.

  Chapter Fifty

  “The camp is fairly lightly guarded, which is to be expected. The Orcs have not noticed us yet which is why it is so important that we attack without delay. I would guess that word of Twin Bay being captured will start to spread soon which will make burning the camps that much harder.”

  Thorn carefully reviewed his map as he listened to Athena’s words. The scouts had brought back a clear picture of the Orc Supply camp and everyone was excited to attack.

  “It looks like the majority of the supplies are being held in the middle of the camp. They don’t seem overly concerned with organization, so most of the supplies are just piled up. A few well-placed fireballs should do the trick nicely.”

  “That sounds good.” Thorn nodded and pointed at the road that ran straight through the camp. “Our goal is causing damage to their supplies rather than wiping out the soldiers so let’s just run straight through. The gates should not be an issue, and the only other thing we will need to worry about is getti
ng bogged down in the camp by Orc soldiers.”

  “Seems like sort of a shame to burn all those supplies.”

  Turning to Mina, Thorn’s eyebrows rose slightly.

  “Do you have another idea?”

  “I dunno, I feel like we have a lot of collective inventory space.” Mina said with a grin. “From the pictures that the scouts took it looks like all the supplies are neatly organized into bundles to make them easier to transport. It would not take very long for each of us to pick up one or two bundles. I’d guess there are, what? 1000 bundles?”

  Opening up the picture the scouts brought back, Thorn tried to estimate the number of bundles piled up in the center of the camp.

  “Hm, probably less than that.”

  “Exactly. There are fifteen hundred of us. If everyone grabs one we can clean them out nicely. No burning needed.”

  “Or, better yet, we can burn the tents around the edge of the camp. Great idea, Mina.” Standing up from where he crouched, Thorn dusted off his hands and called for the Charging Wolf Army to gather. “Alright folks, we’re going to be going in fast and hot. Melee players, I want you to pick up supplies first. Ranged DPS, get the tents burning as fast as possible. The most important thing is that we get in and get out as fast as possible. We are not going to stay around to slug it out with the Orcs, we have other camps to raid. I’ll handle the gates and Heidi; your team will handle any Shaman or Orc Officers that appear. Athena and Mina, can you assist with that?”

  “Sure, that is no problem.”

  “Great. Alph, once the supplies are picked up, I’ll leave covering our retreat to you. Let’s mount up and go cause some havoc.”