Accounts Payable

by Blaise Corvin

  Contents

  Title

  Copyright

  Also by Blaise Corvin

  Dedication

  Foreword

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Book End

  Author's Note

  Nora Hazard: Accounts Payable

  Nora Hazard, Book Three

  Part of the Delvers LLC storyline

  By Blaise Corvin

  Accounts Payable

  Copyright ©2019 by Blaise Corvin

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this work may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

  Also by Blaise Corvin

  *Note: Some titles are scheduled for launch in 2019 or 2020

  Artifice Universe

  Delvers LLC

  1. Welcome to Ludus

  2. Obligations Incurred

  3. Adventure Capital

  Nora Hazard

  1. Mitigating Risk

  2. Competitive Advantage

  3. Accounts Payable

  Delvers LLC (Cont.)

  4. Golden Handcuffs

  5. Hostile Takeover

  VeilVerse

  Asgard Awakening

  1. Asgard Awakening

  2. Asgard Awakening 2

  Yggdrasil Universe

  Secret of the Old Ones

  1. Luck Stat Strategy

  2. Airship Privateers

  Written with Outspan Foster

  Anthem of Infinity

  1. First Song Book One

  2. First Song Book Two

  My wife, for being awesome and supportive.

  Foreword

  Hello readers! This book is classified as GameLit or RPG GameLit.

  You might be curious what RPG GameLit actually is. GameLit, the larger genre umbrella, is any fiction with game mechanics or that takes place in a game. RPG GameLit is a subgenre where stories include some sort of linear progression for characters that is significant to the plot of the story. These types of stories have been extremely popular in Russia and other countries where they are called LitRPG. They’re just now making an impact in the West!

  RPG GameLit is usually a funky mix of Fantasy and Sci Fi. The settings can vary, but what most GameLit novels have in common is a world that most gamers can immediately relate to.

  ***

  This is it! Nora Hazard 3, Accounts Payable is the first series-ender I’ve ever written! A lot of work and effort went into this book, so much so that it took me much longer to write than any of my other stories.

  Writing from Nora’s perspective is hard for me, and this book covers a lot of very emotional scenes, as well as a few crowning moments of awesome. Sometimes it can be difficult to get the important bits right. I think Nora is a great character and I really didn’t want to betray her by slacking off at the end of her journey. The result of all this second-guessing myself is a book I am very, very proud of, and one that made me very emotional to finish.

  Granted, this is not a small book. Accounts Payable is 120k words long, give or take 2k words. To put this into perspective, quite a few of the most popular fantasy/sci-fi books are around 80k words.

  I’ve sacrificed for this series, but I have no regrets. Many of my readers have been irritated with me for starting Nora Hazard’s tale and sticking with it. To put it more crudely, I could have made more money by writing something else. Blessings to everyone who is reading this and enjoys Nora’s story.

  Luckily for you all, I am /very/ stubborn. :) I’m also dedicated to growing my craft, and I can’t do that if I play it safe too often.

  In the end, I think all my readers will eventually be happy. As I’ve said before, Nora’s adventures are meant to be a self-contained series, but also provide a glimpse of Ludus through the eyes of a native, building on the world’s lore. It’s also meant to reward readers who have read this series before starting Delvers LLC, Golden Handcuffs. I believe I have succeeded on all counts…but my opinion doesn’t matter. Once this book has been released, I’ll just have to watch the reviews and hope you all liked it!

  Speaking of which, please remember to leave a review, even if you only want to post a few words. Every little bit helps!

  ***

  I really had a lot of fun writing this book. If you’d like to visit my website, the URL is http://blaise-corvin.com/

  I also have a writer’s note in the back of the book with a whole mess of links.

  If you’d like to connect with me on Patreon, the link is http://www.patreon.com/BlaiseCorvin.

  My reader group on FB is at http://www.facebook.com/groups/BlaiseCorvinBooks/.

  I hope you enjoy your time on Ludus with Nora!

  Echoes of the Past

  I woke in my rumpled bed and even after all this time, reflexively reached over to the other side…but felt nothing. “Damn.” After flopping onto my back, I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and sighed. I’d been single again for over half a year, but old habits die hard. Thinking about Benjamin so early in the morning left a bad taste in my mouth, and as I prepared for the day, I thought about how quickly time had seemed to pass while I’d been a soldier.

  It felt like just yesterday that I’d joined the Tolstey army with my friends Jessica, Christopher, and Benjamin. In reality, years had gone by, and I was much different now than I had been. Sometimes, I still broke out into a cold sweat, thinking about how many times I’d almost died during my early days after being ‘Bonded. Supposedly, my servitude that had brought me here should be ending soon, but I hadn’t seen that crazy woman in a long time and didn’t want to think about it. Military life hadn’t been treating me too badly, and it was a steady paycheck, so I was not in a hurry to rock the boat.

  After stretching in bed like a giant, scarred cat, I finally sat up and blinked the sleep out of my eyes.

  As usual, Eneus stood propped in the corner of my barracks room. As an officer, a Captain now, I had my own, decent-sized room. Of course, in the Guard, “decent-sized” was a matter of perspective, but after my days as a Jackal in Bittertown, I was more than happy with it. In fact, my time as a soldier had been the greatest time of my life so far—I just wished I had someone to share it with. After one last glance at my empty bed, I sighed and began preparing for the day.

  A quick wash in my personal shower was another perk of my rank. Like the rest of Ludus, the water was heated and pumped using the power of magic stones. The water itself could even be generated with magic if necessary, like in the arid area I was currently in. I’d never cared enough to find out how the water was procured here in the desert.

  Like other soldiers of the Tolstey Army, I wore an alternating green-and-tan uniform, but unlike most others, I also wore my enchanted bronze tunic over all of it. Most other soldiers were only allowed to wear armor if they were actually heading to a conflict, training, or on patrol. The majority of them would not have wo
rn armor on a day-to-day basis even if they’d been allowed to. Armor was hot, heavy, and generally not very comfortable.

  I also put on a pair of non-regulation boots. It wasn’t fair to flaunt my rank or status among the other soldiers, but I might be called to act at a moment’s notice, and none of them had to deal with the realities of flying like I did. Regulation boots were hard and hurt my feet to land on.

  After my clothing and armor was in place, I grabbed my spear, strapped on my other weapons, and left for morning formation.

  Outside, the Tolstey sun was just beginning to rise in the West. Soldiers scurried around or stood in small groups, bleeding time before formation. Most of them had already done their body training for the day, and had changed into their duty uniforms.

  The uniforms themselves were a bit of a mishmash, at least until everyone fell into formation. After that, the various groups for this section of Fort Stalwart would be organized by unit, and each group’s uniforms would be the same, signifying the unit they hailed from.

  I glanced around trying to spot my friends, noting all the different types of soldiers nearby. A few officers sported uniforms of the Tolstey Guard; different colors represented the cities they were assigned to. Most of Fort Stalwart had regular Tolstey Army troops, but this area was a little different—we were in Central. The fort was broken up into five major areas, and each of them had its own division of troops. Central, the rough circle in the middle of the base, was the location of the base’s training facility for high-status trainees. Along with orb-Bonded and nobles, the schoolhouse processed Guard officers and politically connected wannabes or charity cases. The fact that aristocrats could receive military training had surprised me in the past. Now I knew that it wasn’t uncommon for a noble family to send a daughter to the army for various reasons.

  Central was also where the oddballs, like my team, were stationed. The fact that we were orb-Bonded was not the only reason we were attached to the 99th Training Regiment. Other Tolstey Army divisions utilized ‘Bonded soldiers as officers, especially the 40th Infantry Division. This fact had surprised me a couple years ago. In the past, I’d thought all orb-Bonded were adventurers, or politicians, or even soldiers in other countries—just about anything paid better than the Tolstey army.

  When I’d asked her about it, Sergeant Major Rakles had explained that some orb-Bonded outlive their families and didn’t have much in life to anchor them. These types found the Army reassuring, grounding. There were also a number of Tolstey patriots, too, or past adventurers who had grown tired of the uncertainty of adventuring.

  The army provided a legitimate career, a few perks, and a new family of sorts.

  With the Command Sergeant Major on my mind, I actually spotted her across the sandy formation area and moved that direction. I pretended not to notice the looks I got from some of the others around me as I moved. Most of the soldiers assigned to Central were trainees or instructors, so all the Specials stood out even more. Sometimes when I overheard the whispered things people said about me, my ears still burned.

  As I got closer, I examined CSM Rakles with a critical eye. Now that I knew her better, I also knew she’d refused a Dolos orb for years, fearing that the brass would try giving her a commission. She wanted a contract in writing that she could remain an NCO, and nobody would give her one...yet.

  Despite the fact that she was not ‘Bonded, I knew the greying woman was rotting dangerous. Her uniform and appearance were entirely within regulation, but she managed to pack an arsenal all the same. The rings on her fingers and pins that adorned her uniform were all enchanted devices, and I knew she had plenty of weapons I couldn’t see too. I’d actually witnessed her take her belt off a year ago and use it as a sword.

  Rakles, a master sergeant at the time, had been the first soldier I’d spoken to all those years before when I’d stumbled into the desert looking for the army. It must have been fate. She’d been promoted a year ago and had taken command of the entire 99th, which included the Specials groups. We were unofficially just known as the Fort Stalwart Specials, but technically attached to the 99th, and that meant Rakles was the top of my immediate chain of command.

  I walked up to CSM Rakles and she rendered a quick salute. After I nodded, she dropped her hand as well as her professionalism, rolling her eyes at Eneus, my spear. “Do you have to carry that damn thing around everywhere, Captain Hazard?”

  “Damn right I do. I’d rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it.”

  “When are you ever going to need your spear in formation? Besides, can’t you just minimize it on your wrist?”

  “Remember that assassin a little over a year ago?” As soon as I’d spoken the words, my eye twitched. That killer had been good, and she’d almost gotten me. I still didn’t know who’d sent her, but I could make a couple of guesses. She must have been paid well to have actually joined the Hell’s Favor Guard as an officer and get sent here for training, all just to have a shot at me.

  Rakles spit. “Yes, and I also remember you didn’t kill her with your big damned spear. You split her in half with that disturbing ring you always wear and terrified most of the 99th’s students. For someone worried about your reputation, you sure do plenty of things to make it grow. Look at how you come to formation.” She lifted an eyebrow at me.

  I grumbled, because despite being irritating, there’d been some truth to what she’d said. Most of the other soldiers called me Hazardous Nora, or Nora the Hazard, at least in private. The way some of them even properly referred to me as Captain Hazard made me inwardly wince. I could stomach fear, or even disgust, but people looking at me with...pride...it made me uncomfortable.

  Despite being surrounded by weirdos, the truth was I loved the Army. Even though I still didn’t entirely feel like I belonged in the 99th, I’d found more acceptance and loyalty here than anywhere else in my life. All of that still didn’t mean I was going to suddenly care about what people thought about me, or ignore practicality, though. If I’d been dressed like some of the self-righteous orb-Bonded officers I’d seen around the rest of the base, I probably would have died when the assassin had come for me.

  I was not normal, I never would be, and I was at peace with that fact now. “This armor sure came in handy before.”

  “Yes, but you’re rotting tough even without it. Would it kill you to collect some of your gear from your room before missions, or even store it in the company area?”

  I gave her a serious look. “It might.” She looked like she wasn’t following so I clarified, “It might kill me. You know how things are out there now, after Dolos gave his message to the world. I know it isn’t common, but I’m not the only orb-Bonded on base who walks around in full battle rattle these days. There is a target on ‘Bonded. It just so happens that in the Army, everyone knows who we all are.”

  Rakles sighed, her stony face drooping. “You have a point. Do you still have that message?”

  “Yes. It’s part of my kit and I have to set an example for the others, after all.” I illustrated my point by pulling a few laminated cards from my pocket. One was the Tolstey Army values. Another had miniature pictures of the poisonous plants in the country, only a few to watch out for since most were edible. One of the cards had a transcript of the message heard around the world less than three months ago. Everyone I’d ever talked to about it could remember exactly what they’d been doing when they’d heard a voice, the day Dolos had talked to all of us directly in our minds.

  I’d read the message so many times, I practically had it memorized. The card read:

  This is the Great God Dolos! I have an announcement to make!

  I really despise talking to mortals even if I don't have to be there in person. Oh well, needs must.

  Mortals are truly just a step above stupid animals, their lives just one disappointment after another. It's a good thing I can suspend my sense of smell, or the stench of this world would force me to incinerate it. Truly awful.

&nbs
p; I'm not even sure why I bother with communications like this. The little mortals, especially those dreadful Terrans, will probably run around panicking, making their little sounds of worry. Perhaps a few will even fall into a well and drown. Yet here I am, taking time to give this message. I am simply too kind and generous for my own good.

  Anyway, I am the Great God Dolos! I am great. And a god. It's in my title. You are probably looking around at each other in awe and wonder. Yes, I am talking to you in your minds. This sort of thing isn't difficult for me. Try to keep up.

  I am about to give an announcement. All mortals on Ludus should stop eating or humping or rolling around or running through fire or whatever it is they are doing. This message is important.

  From this moment forward, I am issuing a bounty on all Dolos orb-Bonded and Hero ring Mo'hali Heroes. That sounds kind of redundant, doesn't it? Hero ring Mo'hali Heroes. The Mo'hali really are stupid. I'm surprised they're able to dress themselves.

  There are too many orb-Bonded and Heroes on Ludus to list in this message. There is simply not enough time. Well, I also don't want to do it. However, I will have city centers or government buildings post lists of resident orb wielders in your country. This list will be delivered by Dolosbots and updated every month.

  Plus, using the same power that allows me to communicate with you now, if you see a Dolos orb-Bonded or Mo'hali Hero clearly, you will be notified and presented with a classification. This alert will manifest as a chime sound in your head, and written words flowing across your left eye. If you can't read or you don't have a left eye, well, too bad for you.