A new symbol appeared on my HUD of a wand. The empty circle became blue and filled in a quarter of the way to the top.
“A what?”
“It’s a, I mean, holy shit. It was a magic spell,” I said in utter shock. “And I learned it, and I got a new mana pool on my HUD.”
“Was a magic spell? Let me read it too,” Oz reached for the scroll but frowned as the last of the whorls on the parchment completely faded away.
My head hurt as if someone had just stabbed me between the eyes. The book bounced around like it had epilepsy but all I could do was try to push away the sudden migraine.
“You okay?”
“No. Yes. I don’t know. It feels like someone stabbed me between the eyes with a hot poker,” I gasped.
“What was the spell?”
“I don’t fucking know, okay? God, this hurts,” I groaned.
Oz sat back on his knees and frowned.
I wanted to lie down and sleep for about a week, but we wouldn’t be safe sitting here.
Then a woman screamed from inside the cave.
THREE’S A PARTY
About eighteen months ago I went on my first raid with my guild.
I’d been in another guild but had always thought that the guys in the Radiant Rabble-Rousers, AKA, Rousers, had one of the largest and best-organized guilds around. They were pretty laid back for the most part. They only did raids at night and had a pretty casual two days a week meet up. But they were very methodical about beating the world bosses. They sort of lined them up like dominoes and went after them with flame and fury.
We raided a minimum of ten hours a week, but that could easily stretch to twenty when the servers weren’t being upgraded and or patched. Sometimes I think the only reason they ever let me in was that I worked for AlgerTech.
Garalon had been one such boss, and I was thrilled when I was finally asked to help lead a raid. I petitioned long and hard for the honor after we had a successful raid against the Elder God Mithrilia. I didn’t admit it, but I had gotten very lucky when a warrior had taken a bolt of lightning that would have finished me. I had gambled that I’d be able to spend more time on a more powerful spell. But the raid had stringent rules, and I had, to put it mildly, skirted those.
Still. The sacrifice of the warrior, a guy whose name I couldn’t even remember, had given me the chance to shine, and shine I did.
I had earned my first shard on that raid.
Shards were a powerful talisman that skilled artisans could turn into a necklace, work into a weapon, or into a piece of armor. Some liked to have them on full display on a helm. I had chosen to have mine mounted top of the staff. With it, I had a weapon that never ran out of charges, never needed to draw from my mana or life pool, and it was always “on.”
What I wouldn’t have given to have that weapon right now, and the ability to use it. Shards were bound to their owner, and they required in-game rules to work. So a level two Paladin couldn’t just pick one up and start blasting. Once bound to an owner, the shard could not be removed, sold, or broken down into other components.
I was working my way to my second shard when I fell into this game world, and now I might never have a second chance.
The woman screamed again as I rolled over and tried not to puke. I snatched the book from my side and slapped it open on the ground and dug through the pages until I came to a pair that had previously been blank. Sure enough, a new bar had appeared next to a symbol of a wand, and below it, icons had taken shape. One of them was entirely filled in, and it looked like a man walking with a malady.
I thought of the symbol I had seen on the scroll, and it was suddenly there. I lifted my head, looked at Oz, and it just sort of let go.
Oz gasped and looked down at his legs. He tried to take a step, but something ethereal crept up from the ground and fingers the size of bananas, but black and covered in white runes, pulled at his feet. Oz yelled in fear and fought them but the fingers, even though they didn’t make contact with Oz’s legs, caressed them and grasped at his calves.
“What the hell is this,” Oz asked in a panic.
“Sorry, sorry!” I said. “I didn’t mean to do that.”
“You did that? What the hell?”
“It’s a low-level spell called Fingers of Draedor. It came to me after I read the scroll, man. This is great news,” I said trying not to sound too enthusiastic.
Now that I had tested the spell, the headache faded into the background and no longer made me feel like I was about to lose the little bit of rabbit we had consumed a few minutes ago. But the surprising news was that I was back on the path to becoming a full-fledged mage. The mace had its uses, sure, but being able to cast spells had always been mine in game calling.
“Make it stop,” Oz pleaded.
“It should wear off in a few,” I squinted at the ground. “It’s fading now.”
Oz shuddered and jumped out of the circle of the spell. The fingers sank back into the ground but left a small rune on the ground. I leaned over and touched it with one finger then realized it was just an imprint left in the dirt. A few brushes with my hand and it was gone.
“Don’t fucking do that again,” Oz warned.
“I swear, Oz. It was an accident. I thought of the symbols, and the spell was there.”
“I regret every time I ever did something wrong to an NPC in any game ever,” Oz shuddered again.
“Are we going to go rescue a damsel in distress while we’re looking for that idol?” Now that I had a spell, I was eager to get more.
“Yeah. Just please be careful where you’re pointing those spells, okay?”
“Spell. It’s only one. New page and everything,” I said and proffered the book.
“Next time we get a spell, how about letting me read it, okay?”
“Yeah, sure. Of course,” I nodded.
Night had fully arrived, and the little campfire was all that provided illumination. The bandit had helpfully stacked some dry wood next to the location, so I fed it a single chunk. Then I set one more in the fire, with just the tip of the flame, so we would have a torch when we went inside.
“So what’s the plan?” Oz said.
“I guess we just go in there prepared to kick some ass,” I said.
“You can cast that spell again?”
“Pretty sure. All I have to do is think of the symbols while looking at someone.”
I didn’t mention that my new blue mana pool seemed like a sliver of its first appearance. I might have enough to cast one more spell. I was tempted to sip the potions we had retrieved from the guard and test them. Maybe one would restore my mana. I had a feeling the blue one would but was too scared it was for something like haste. If that were the case, then Oz would need it more than me.
“Maybe we should just count ourselves lucky to get a little equipment and move on. Isn’t there another town nearby?”
“If we keep walking, I think there is. But we should stick with the safe bet, right? Once we get back in town, Hull promised he would introduce us to the guild leader. We can train and get stronger, and then we make it to the next town. Once we do that we have many more options. Head to the capitol, and then we might have a chance at figuring out how to get to an upgraded server,” I said.
“I really hate how much you’re making sense right now,” Oz sighed.
“You and me both,” I replied.
WE WENT into the cave on light feet. I had taken the torch out of the fire and held it aloft, but the tip barely held a flame. I advanced on the entrance, and the light flickered and went out, so I tossed the log back toward the fire in frustration.
“Just as well. We don’t need to announce our presence,” Oz said.
“We will if we walk into someone in the dark.”
“So we wait until our eyes adjust to the dark. That works in fantasy books.” Oz nodded sagely.
“They probably have torches or something. Everyone loves torches in this world,” I said.
Th
e entrance had a bunch of moss hanging overhead, forcing us to duck as we walked into the darkness. Oz paused after a few steps, and we let our eyes adjust. The path cut to the left at a hard angle and there were pebbles all over the floor. Another few steps and we were in an antechamber with a wooden shelf set about five feet off the floor. A fire in the center of the room burned, surrounded by small round rocks. Heat radiated outward. This would actually make a decent place to crash for the night assuming we didn’t get killed.
A pair of torches on opposite ends of the room provided further light. I studied them and found they were constructed out of metal poles with some cloth at the end. The flames licked the ceiling and had left scorch marks. Smoke rolled up toward the top of the room and then disappeared into a large hole.
A second hallway broke away to the right, and we followed it but kept ourselves in half crouches. I liked to think it made us harder to see, but actually, this was adding XP to my sneaking skill. To confirm my suspicion, I checked my HUD and found that the little foot pad icon was back and my experience bar had once again budged.
Someone spoke in the next room. The man had a gruff voice, but I couldn’t make out his words. More words, but muffled, and they sounded female.
Look, I know this is fantasy world and all, but if some lowly NPC was about to get raped, I wasn’t going to stand for it.
I hefted the mace and crept forward until I came to another room lit by candles set on two small tables. Three beds constructed of wood with hard little mattresses and threadbare sheets sat next to the far wall and on them was the bound figure of a woman dressed in dark leather armor. She kicked at the man when he approached and put a hand on her.
Another man lay on the floor groaning. He had a dagger stuck in his leg and blood pumped out in a steady stream.
“Unhand her,” I bellowed before I could stop myself.
“Shit,” Oz said. “Element of surprise much?”
“Who’s this worm, eh? Oh, two worms come to the party,” the man said and turned slowly to take us in.
He wore leather armor, but the telltale signs of chain mail underneath meant this was not going to be an easy battle. At least there was only one of him and two of us.
The woman grunted and lashed out with her foot, but the man calmly stepped out of the way and drew two long daggers that were made of dull metal. But even in the poor light, it was easy to see the blades were also sharpened because the dangerous edge glinted.
“Let her go, and we’ll let you live,” I said.
“You’ll let me live, eh? And who’s going to let you both live?”
“Uh—us I guess,” I said.
Why did bad guys always have so much dialogue? Because they were either calculating, or they were sure that backup was on the way. Sure enough, a pair of passages arched away from this second room. He hadn’t called for help yet, so we needed to dispatch him quickly.
The man on the floor uttered a curse as he yanked the dagger out of his leg. He sat up, flipped the hilt into the air, caught the blade by the pointy end, pulled back and threw it right at Oz’s head.
Oz ducked and got his blade up deflecting the dagger so that it clattered across the floor.
I didn’t wait for these guys to get their shit together. I moved up on the injured man and smacked his leg with the mace. He tried to get his hands in the way, but the weight of the heavy weapon slammed them aside.
“Curse of the foulest pits of hell on you!” he howled in pain.
The guy advanced on us as Oz moved to his flank. I summoned up the image of the spell while I looked at the man. Long fingers reached up from the earth and grasped at him, but he strode right through them. Oz met him in the middle of the room with a hard swing of the short sword.
I staggered back because unleashing the spell had once again been like being assaulted with the worst hangover in the world. Thankfully it faded much faster but not before it almost put me on my ass.
“I’m surprised to see one such as you are wielding a blade,” the bandit with the double daggers taunted Oz who kept a healthy distance between himself and the bandit.
“Because I’m low experience?” Oz said and knocked a blade aside.
The guy obviously knew how to fight so why was he so standoffish with Oz?
“Gonna gut you,” the guy on the ground said as he clutched his leg.
I smacked his foot with the mace again, and when he leaned forward and grabbed his other leg, I hit him in the back of the head with the mace. It wasn’t a hard blow, and I think I caught him more around his ear because I still couldn’t see very well, but I know I got him good because he dropped like a rock.
“I’ll gut you for that,” the man appraising Oz said to me.
“You just said that. You guys lack originality,” I replied.
The bandit snarled and stabbed at Oz, but Oz danced back out of the way of the blow. He did know how to move on his feet, and I wondered if he had taken dancing lessons or something like that at one time.
I moved to the man’s rear and covered the woman. I felt back behind me to find her bound hands and worked at the knot. If nothing else maybe we could force this guy into a corner and let the damsel escape before we killed him.
She grabbed my hand tightly, and I assumed it was a thank you. I worked at the bindings on her wrist and yanked at the leather. She tried to help, but I was doing it blindly. If I was going to get her loose I was going to have to take my eyes off the guy with the daggers.
The bandit spun and lashed out at me and then stood in the middle of the room with blades sticking outward.
I danced back, and my legs struck the bed. I had no choice but to sit down. Oz whipped the sword in and slashed at the bandit. He danced away, and I had a brief second to look at the woman’s wrists.
Christ but this was a double knot. I grabbed an end and set the mace on my lap so I could undo it.
Oz followed up with another slash and the man backed into the wall. But he didn’t look scared at all. He looked like he had just eaten a shit sandwich and had the grin to back it up.
“You have the look but not the training. I thought this was going to be a real fight,” the bandit said to Oz.
“Would you just shut the fuck up and leave us to rescue the girl?” Oz shot back.
“I believe I will leave a pair of corpses and keep her,” he said.
He switched to an aggressive stance and advanced on Oz. Oz batted a dagger aside and then took a slash across his right arm. He gasped in pain and fell back.
I mostly freed the girl but couldn’t leave Oz alone to fight this guy anymore, so I snatched up my mace and came at him.
He chuckled and flowed on feet faster than a dancer. The blade slashed at my face, and when I swept the mace up to block it, he sliced me across the chest.
The blade cut my shirt like paper and ripped a line of fire across my chest.
I staggered back as pain erupted.
Oz threw caution to the wind and dove in with the sword. The man batted it aside and drove the left dagger into Oz’s chest just below his heart. Oz looked at me in shock and then collapsed in a heap.
“Son of a bitch,” I roared.
The woman finally got free and rolled off the bed. She did a neat little somersault and came up with Oz’s sword in her hand.
That’s when I got the first shock. The damsel we had been trying to save was none other than Karian. She was indeed in black, but her armor was a hell of a lot better condition than what we wore. With her skin tone, she positively looked like a dark elf except for the ears. Her hair was a little bit different, longer, straighter, and cut into a bob. But her amazing green eyes were unmistakable. She shot me an unreadable look just before her eyes went wide.
Then the second shock arrived when the bandit drove the dagger into my neck.
10
GANKED!
I kind of hated my job but not for the reasons most people claim to hate theirs. Yeah, I had to get up early every day and had to comm
ute. I tried to work at home in the early days, but it didn’t go so well. There was too much temptation to dive back into Th’loria, but each time I did, I ran the risk that the company would find out.
Or they found out. I’m not sure why but my manager, Eddie Burns, told me one day that I needed to keep my work at home days down to once a month at most. It wasn’t fair. Some guys were allowed to work at home a couple of times a week.
Sometimes you gotta suck it up and pretend like you aren’t sitting at home dicking around on a video game. Sometimes you had to get your ass to work so you didn’t get fired.
I chose the latter.
DYING SUCKS A LOT.
A. Lot.
First, there’s the pain and let me assure you it’s real. When the dagger went through my neck, it felt like a white-hot poker had pierced my windpipe, slid through my tongue, and out the back of my head. I think the asshole hit my spinal cord because my legs gave out.
I didn’t die right away. Once my legs gave out I collapsed and was aware of the battle around me. I was also aware of warm blood spouting out of my neck and down my chest. My eyes still worked, and I found that I had ended up in a sitting position, gagging on a metal blade. I couldn’t breathe and ended up making gagging noises as I tried to suck air through my nose.
Karian was like a lightning bolt. She dove forward and snatched up Oz’s sword, batted aside a dagger like she was swatting at a fly, then almost casually whipped the sword up and cut the guy’s throat. The man I had hit with the mace tried to drag himself to my corpse, I guess to pick up my weapon, but she didn’t let him get far and drove the blade into his back, and gave it a little twist.
Then it was blessedly dark for a split second in which I floated in a sea of blue upon shades of blue. A soothing voice reached me, and I felt at peace. So this was it. I had died in a fucking game world.
But death was not the end. A swirling vortex opened up ahead of me, and I slid inside. I spun in circles faster and faster and fell. I grabbed my throat and found that there was no longer a knife there, and I could actually breathe.
SHARDS OF REALITY: A LitRPG novel (Enter the Realm Book 1) Page 9
