The Guild Core: The Complete Saga Boxset: A LitRPG Dungeon Adventure

by TJ Reynolds

  Rhona ran, urged on by the concussive bursts of skills being released.

  Often, it was the first moments in a battle when skills and spells were most effective. Such haste could be detrimental, though, and showing great discipline, the Hintari and Brintoshi both held back much of their potential.

  A hail of javelins, maybe propelled by the wind element, filled the sky to her right as she sprinted through the ruins. The projectiles fell like hailstones, and Brintoshi screams filled the air.

  Tela moved beside her. The ranger had left her bow behind and bore a blade so short it was little more than a dirk.

  Yet Rhona could tell by the way she held it, the woman knew her business.

  By now, well over a hundred Brintoshi had entered the ruins, and the rear of the column was still not in sight.

  It was no matter. Their job was simple.

  Cut the snake in half.

  Rhona saw Tela bring her blade down into the neck of an unsuspecting soldier. Having a much different fighting style, Rhona wove in between two ranks, and let loose.

  Finding herself face to visor with a six-and-a-half-foot Brintoshi soldier, Rhona slammed her palm into the center of his breastplate and triggered Etheric Sapping.

  The poor man dropped his spear and went rigid as a store of his AE flooded into Rhona’s body.

  Suddenly, her movements increased in speed and power.

  A gauntlet clamped around her arm, and Rhona spun. A soldier swung a fire-infused axe at her face with amplified force. She ducked under the soldier’s arm and sunk a fist into his ribs.

  Her knuckles sunk into the soldier’s chain mail, blunting her attack. When she let a thread of AE burst free of her fist, however, bones snapped.

  A palm strike to the man’s forehead was enough to kill him.

  Again, Rhona used Etheric Sapping, stopping another soldier in his tracks. The second wave of ether made her nauseous, but she ignored it.

  Her skill was invaluable, but had its limits. If she used it excessively, she would gain a condition known as ether poisoning.

  Rhona forced the acquired ether into a series of kicks, knocking the legs out of three more soldiers.

  They fell in heaps, their armor’s weight making them clumsy.

  She glanced around briefly and saw the plan was working. Two dozen Hintari fighters, a composition of rangers and javelin throwers, had bisected the Brintoshi forces.

  Sensing their trouble, the Brintoshi nearby fell back on the strength of their untapped skills. A series of fireballs erupted nearby, but the Hintari used wind and ice skills to block or push aside the brunt of the attacks.

  Tela moved like the wind, trading blows with a skilled swordsman.

  Like her Hintari comrades, Tela preferred Shu. After dodging a fiery assault from the swordsman, the ranger activated a powerful wind skill that guided her sword with incredible speed.

  The man’s arm fell off at the elbow, then his head followed.

  Returning her focus to the soldiers around her, Rhona spotted another target. She waited for an opening, planning on expelling the rest of her mana through her knuckles. A tap to the side of the skull would be enough.

  Her vision wavered and bright pain blossomed on the back of her head though. And then she was on the ground.

  Boots moved around her, and she clutched the spinning ground.

  She was in a bad position.

  Old training urged her to pull her shield over her head until she could reorient herself.

  But Rhona was a monk now.

  Ether poured into Rhona’s core as Blood Sunder and Martyr’s Vigor activated at once.

  Blood Sunder granted a surge of AE, half of which she directed into her damaged skull. A moment later, and her balance was restored.

  Martyr’s Vigor would help heal the rest, speeding up her recovery process and reducing blood loss and any chance of infection.

  Not in the clear yet, Rhona, she reminded herself. Glancing up, she spotted the tip of a spear aimed at her face.

  Rhona rolled to one side, crashing into another soldier’s leg. She stared up at two pissed-off Brintoshi. Then both tried to stab her at once.

  Out of options, Rhona called upon her most costly skill.

  Tapping Spirit Surge, the world around her froze.

  Rhona looked up and marveled at the glinting sunlight that reflected off of the tip of the nearest spear. It moved toward her sluggishly, so easy to dodge it was laughable.

  The two spears side by side couldn’t be dodged though. Rhona held out two fingers and smacked them away to either side.

  The force of her counter cracked the haft of each spear.

  Then she flipped up onto her feet and extended both fists. Her knuckles connected, ether lancing out and ending her foes.

  Though she pulled her fists back, the energy released from each tore through the soldiers’ cores. Twin sprays of blood burst from their backs, and the ungodly crack of two spines followed.

  For the smallest fraction of a single second, Rhona observed the world.

  Everything was in motion.

  Everything was trapped in time while she alone moved freely.

  Spirit Surge made her feel alive, without limits. Yet her Progression had been drained to zero when fighting the basilisk, and even upon its death, she’d regained little.

  She only had a few seconds.

  Rhona ran at the nearest rank and leapt into the air.

  Using the force of her own momentum, Rhona snapped her foot out and cracked a soldier’s neck. She bent her knees and thrust them outward, smashing the sternums of two more foes.

  She rebounded off, propelling herself toward another group of Brintoshi.

  These will be my last. I need to save my Progression if it’s possible, she promised herself.

  Her body thrummed with so much potential she felt like weeping. Or screaming. Or bursting into shivving flames.

  Face first, Rhona sped through the air. She aimed for the base of the skull as she approached a group of three soldiers. Three strikes, each delivered with a two-fingered thrust, was all it took to bring them down.

  Rhona focused on control and the precision of her form.

  Her fingers landed, and she just stared in fascination as the third attack landed, her most delicate by far. A tiny ripple of blue power danced away from her fingers, moving across the man’s forehead.

  His eyes widened briefly, and then he was still.

  When Rhona landed nearby, waiting for her slain enemies to fall, she stemmed off the surge of emotions welling up in her heart.

  How many of her own had she killed?

  Somewhere, held at bay by her stubborn will, she knew the exact number.

  But she couldn’t afford to dwell on that now.

  Rhona sighed and prepared to drop her skill. Before she did, though, a man emerged from the rear of the column. His armor surpassed that of a common soldier, and she thought she recognized him as the terror who’d done for Imogen.

  What caught her eye was the way he moved though.

  Not slow, trapped in a normal flow of time.

  He moved like she did.

  Fear gripped her chest as the man sprinted up the hill toward her.

  He was still a hundred feet away when her Progression ran out and time sped up around her.

  Rhona recoiled from the too-sobering experience of draining her Progression and expending massive amounts of ether.

  Then something caught the back of her braid and her head tilted up to the sky.

  A man was holding her, the man, his powered gauntlet wrapped around the base of her skull. He gripped her throat in the other.

  The racket of combat raged all around her, but Rhona could only see the man’s icy, hate-filled eyes. “Who are you?” he whispered, fury and awe in his expression. “And where is that shivving Earth Core?”

  Rhona tried to fight the man, bring her left heel down on his foot and then throw the man over her shoulder. But his grip was steel, and befor
e she could move a muscle, something tapped at the frail edge of her consciousness.

  In a cold whisper, she heard him in her mind. Core Sworn? What fool would bind themselves to an Earth Core?

  Her answer was dripping with venom. I did what I had to to save Imogen’s life. I’d do it again.

  A sneer crossed Hastings’ lips. And in so doing, you’ve given me the keys to your mind. How amusing.

  Then he was in her head, sifting her thoughts and memories as if she were a book. The man was focused. He sought only her memories concerning Ban and Kai. He saw the three of them as they delved into Imogen’s dungeon, as they formed their alliance, and as they fled before his troops.

  Another flash of memory filled her mind, the moment Imogen had presented Ban with the gleaming Soul Sphere. The man’s greed welled up inside of him like a storm as he observed the Soul Sphere and the mysteries it held.

  Finally, he found the moment Kai had spoken with her the night before. The words ‘Sunken Keep’ seemed to echo in her mind, and he gripped it tighter still. His will pressed down on her like an anvil. After another brief search, he discovered the time Ban and Kai had shown her the map. In perfect detail it stood before her, and there, not so far across the Hintari border, lay the Sunken Keep.

  Then the sensation tore free, and Rhona gasped for air. Her head throbbed, and still the man held her. His teeth were bared in a savage mockery of a smile. Slowly, he wrapped his other hand around her throat, flexing his grip experimentally.

  He didn’t act though, and she sensed he wasn’t sure exactly what to do with her.

  A nearby explosion sounded, and his head shot up. Rhona watched his cold eyes as he surveyed the destruction of his troops.

  For a split second, he glared into her eyes before slamming her to the ground.

  Her head struck the earth, and her vision flashed.

  Rhona remained conscious, though, and as she rose, she realized she knew the man’s name. Colonel Hastings, a monster who desperately needed to be killed.

  When she looked around, the Brintoshi commander was gone.

  A moment later, a horn sounded, and a chillingly familiar voice cried for a retreat.

  Rhona’s fatigue and injuries were relieved as she forced the rest of her AE into healing. Then a gout of cool ether flooded her core as the fallen soldiers she’d killed gave up their essence.

  More Progression than she’d ever absorbed from a single skirmish filled her, and distantly, she noted she’d gained a level.

  But like the rest of the Hintari, she was concerned only with the hasty retreat taking place.

  Tembar let the Hintari hound their foes for a long, bloody minute. When pursuit became necessary, he screamed in the tongue of his people, “Fall back! Victory is ours!”

  Tela tugged on Rhona’s arm. “Let’s go, Rhona. We don’t want to be here if the Brintoshi decide to make another go of it.”

  Rhona let herself be pulled along, but she glanced back one more time.

  There, at the edge of the forest, Colonel Hastings stood.

  He was staring directly at Rhona.

  10

  Water from the Rock

  Ban

  Kai had been kind enough to allow Ban plenty of sleep.

  When Ban woke at last, the stars filled the sky above, and insects were singing melodies he’d never heard before.

  Ban waddled some distance away and watched his young dragon make a bed for himself and rest.

  How has he grown so much already? Ban thought privately. He’s grown wise in the short time we’ve been together. Or at least much less foolish. In fact, between the two of us, I’d say he has a good deal more common sense now.

  The realization didn’t disturb Ban. He wasn’t meant for extended adventuring. Such journeys outside the protection of a dungeon were meant to be reserved for trying times.

  And the times were trying, he admitted.

  For a while, Ban nearly faltered. His heart ached over the loss of Imogen. How close he’d come to having a fellow Earth Core friend.

  How quickly it had been taken away.

  The image of a bloodless face, handsome and cold, came to him. Hastings, the man was called. If there was ever a human more worthy of becoming a mindless minion, it is that very man. To think, I’m concerned my time trapped in this body will make me into a beast. What foul deeds has that man done to turn his core so foul?

  And he had felt the man’s core, hadn’t he?

  Thinking of the precise moment the queer gauntlet touched Imogen’s core, Ban swore he felt a corrosive taint in the burning inferno of Hastings’ core.

  Such memories promised only impotent fear. Ban couldn’t control everything, most especially not without an actual dungeon.

  Thankfully, he recalled the gift Imogen had given him, the knowledge he meant to cherish and protect with his own life. This, of course, prompted the Earth Core to inspect the Soul Sphere yet again.

  His duty as Kai’s guard till morning was important, so rather than abandon his champion’s body completely, Ban forced a thread of his focus to remain on his surroundings. He tuned his eyes and ears to pick up any disturbance in the area, a prospect he found unlikely.

  So far, he’d seen nothing active under the silver lamp of the moon other than the occasional flutter of bats.

  Confident his fleshy bits would maintain security, Ban tapped his mind into the vast matrix within the sphere.

  Hello, strange friend. I only wish to study and admire you, Ban told the object with affection. No response came, but the warm glow of the sphere’s ether reminded Ban of Imogen anyhow.

  Ban refused to think of this novel spark of life as merely an object. Imogen had entrusted every secret and scrap of lore she’d recovered from her shivvering. He had been honored by the gesture. It showed a great deal of trust, and if Ban’s hunch was correct, how Imogen had used this last act as a means of remaining in this world with her new friends.

  Rhona was blunt and rude but insightful and honest as well. Kai could be dense yet remained a delightful companion at even the worst of times.

  But Imogen… well, she’d been a rare creature indeed.

  Surely, Ban thought privately. Surely, what I felt for her might even have been called love.

  The Soul Sphere remained as silent as the distant stars.

  The silence seemed to expand and engulf him, a sensation spurred on by his emotions, he knew, but which he chose to respect. His champion could not weep, but Ban’s core rung like a bell. He stood vigil, embracing every drop of grief that trickled through his being.

  Wherever you are, Imogen, know that I’ll not soon forget you.

  He left this thought alone, keeping it as a sacred promise to fulfill in the years to come. Years, he knew all too well, that Imogen had bought with her own life.

  The remainder of the night passed in relative peace.

  When the sun rose above the Eastern horizon, the Earth Core sighed in relief. Ban enjoyed long stretches of uninterrupted alone time, but only when he had a dungeon to improve. By himself, with only the glowing wonder of the Soul Sphere to inspect, it was maddening.

  After waking Kai, the two spent but a few minutes preparing for travel and another few hours exploring the depths of the canyon.

  Their surroundings were deceptively expansive.

  What looked at first to be a tiny sea of grass growing between three cliff walls became a rich terrain after some initial snooping about. Ban jogged up the hill, finding the remains of several old and crumbled structures. One had obviously been a wall, stretching from north to south and closing off the canyon.

  Now, it was only a smudged line on a map, the stones shattered and cast about.

  As they rose up to a plateau, the remainder of the canyon became visible. The canyon’s end had seemed to be the cliff face visible from the entrance below. But now that they were closer, Ban saw how the canyon curved north, rising higher into the mountains.

  Onward they climbed, chatting idly a
s they went.

  Ban followed the remnants of a road, the overgrown path still occasionally visible through the weeds.

  The air grew colder as they climbed the mountain path, and Ban felt oddly comforted by the relative seclusion.

  The slope that led upward toward the chasm of the Sunken Keep had a consistent gradient. Kai pointed out that should an army attack, the canyon would be highly defensible.

  Not only would the narrow entrance restrict enemy movements, but whoever defended the keep could hold the high ground indefinitely.

  Finally, the two spotted a river ahead. It dropped down rapidly from a high mountain pass and poured down into the canyon. The path leveled out and dipped, leading the stream toward a circular patch of grass ahead.

  Ban slowed, enjoying the scenery as they entered a wide meadow, the river tumbling on before them.

  A dried creek bed appeared as it wound down the hill side. It had never been large, and considering how close it was to the first, Ban suspected the two might have joined some time ago.

  All other details faded away as their destination came into view.

  Unbroken and undisturbed, the slope led down to the edge of the massive hole, in the middle of which rose a keep. Only the tip of a stone tower rose high enough to be seen, but the sight remained spectacular.

  Ban jogged closer, hearing the white noise of a waterfall as they came nearer.

  The river wove around the outside of the pit, and as they ran to the edge, a spillway funneled the entire river down at an angle. Had the other two streams been present, they would have created a spiraling circle if seen from above.

  Staring down into the pit, Ban saw the stone tower rising up from the depths till it was flush with the surface of the canyon.

  Around the base of the tower, a gaping chamber had been carved out of the stone. A cloud of mist obscured most of the details Ban was interested in.

  A single bridge spanned the gap between keep and canyon floor.

  The tower’s peak had a steep-pitched roof tiled in slate. A few of the tiles were missing, but that was to be expected of a structure so long out of repair.