“You keep an eye on them,” Thadroot met Karian’s eyes. “I’m going to do battle with a wraith. Oh, and Oz and when you toss that thunder, you should all hit the ground and fast.”
“Very reassuring.” Oz fidgeted as he handled the grenade.
Karian nodded but didn’t look convinced.
I summoned the symbols, and they appeared in front of my eyes. I caught sight of one of the putridfangs coming out of the swamp, dragging a skeletal arm that had somehow become attached to its tail.
“That’s disturbing,” I said.
“Do it, Walt,” Oz urged me. “Don’t get distracted.”
I shook my head and then summoned the spell again. The shapes appeared but I lost the spell as yet another of the putridfangs made it to shore. I risked a look over my shoulder and found Thandroot had moved to engage the wraith. He held up his right hand and spoke words I could not make out. Was he chanting to cast a spell? That was a new twist on the already messed up land of Th’loria beta-craptacular-world.
“Dude. We’re about to run out of room here,” Oz warned as he backed up a step.
He was right. The putridfangs had closed on the right and cut off our path. Behind us lay a solid wall of the impenetrable hedgerow.
I suddenly felt dizzy and realized I was breathing too fast.
A warm hand closed on my wrist. I turned my head and found Karian looking up at me.
“Walter. You can do this. Just summon the spell and drop it on those slugs,” she said softly.
I nodded, called up the spell, lifted my hands, and created a circle in the air. The symbols burned into my retinas and my mana pool diminished by half. A hole opened above the mass of slithering putridfangs, and some small green clouds appeared. With a flash, the mantle opened up and fluid seared the ground and sizzled where it struck the mobs.
“Here goes nothing,” Oz said, yanked the cord out of the clay container, and then tossed it into the mass.
Karian grabbed me by the sleeve as Oz turned. He winked and then hauled ass toward Thandroot with Karian right behind him. Thandroot must have known what he was doing because the wraith fled from his chanting. I picked my way over the soggy ground smacking into saw blade grass and trying to avoid water logged holes when it happened.
The explosion threw me forward, and I kissed the swamp land. Earth exploded upward as did the corpses of putridfangs.
I looked up and found that Thandroot had engaged the wraith again. She beat at his maul while he shouted words of power. She lashed out, and her ethereal hand somehow made contact. The dwarf yelled in pain and fell backward to land with a dull thump. The wraith came at him as he pushed his feet into the wet ground in an attempt to find purchase.
Chunks of swamp rained down. I put my arms over my head and hoped a putridfang’s head didn’t land on me teeth first.
I sucked it up and hauled myself to my feet. The staff had landed a few feet away, so I retrieved it and ran into the fray.
The wraith was a good two feet taller than me, and she was a vision straight out of a nightmare. Her lips had been replaced by blackened teeth that chomped up and down. Long greasy strands of black hair hung around her head, and her gray mud and slime-covered rags revealed more skin than I cared to see.
She reached for Thandroot’s chest, but I intervened by swinging the staff at her head. I half expected it to pass through the wraith, but it smacked her hard enough to bowl her flat. She gathered herself and came up on all fours. Eyes black with hate stared daggers at me. Her arm darted forward and caught my ankle. I fell back, landed hard on my side and saw stars as my head hit something solid. The staff flew out of my hand and chill fingers burned into my flesh as she pulled me toward her.
With a shriek of terror, I shook off her hand and went for my mace even though I could barely catch my breath. The haft caught in my belt and I uttered a curse in frustration. Her gaping maw opened wide enough to devour my entire leg. I recoiled in fear and kicked her in the forehead.
Karian grabbed my free hand and pulled, but the gray wraith had me in a vice-like grip. Oz dashed in with his sword, but she sent tendrils of her ruined dress slashing out, catching him in the midsection, and sending him flying.
Thandroot rolled to his side and then to his feet. He lifted his maul, yelled something in that other language, and then smashed the wraith into the swamp floor. She shuddered and then her body burst into thousands of motes that flew outward before sinking into the marsh land.
I sat back but refused to let go of Karian’s hand.
“Are you okay?” She leaned over and asked me, concern etched on her face.
“Ding,” I muttered, and then the back of my head smacked into the swamp in exhaustion.
22
DOUBLE DING FTW
Some parts of the night of the party, the last time we were in our world, had long faded, but memories occasionally intruded, and like a lot of old lost things, were hazy in the back of my head. But one thing had come back to me while we were out galavanting across the land.
Mathias Anders, the lead developer of Realms of Th’loria, had graced the party with his presence. Mathias was a god to me. The man had originally pitched the game to Howard and together the pair had created AlgerTech nearly twenty years ago. I was far too scared to talk to him, although I had been assured by many the he was a great guy, and very down to earth.
Mathias had a huge beard and mustache and wore thick glasses with plain black frames.
But it wasn’t him who triggered my memory. It was Gabriel Richards, with his slick hair, Rolex watch, and sports jacket that looked like it cost more than my entire wardrobe. He liked to remind everyone at every opportunity that he had these unnerving cybernetic eye implants, something that was still years from being available to the public, that he claimed gave him better than perfect vision.
I remembered him because those eyes creeped me out. They weren’t natural and had silver irises. When he looked at me, I swear those things contracted, like he was taking pictures. They did that a lot around Karian.
He’d been his dickish self to the rest of the attendees, with the exception of Howard and Mathias. He kissed those guys’ asses at every opportunity. God, he had a condescending way of talking to everyone. “Oh, you’re a tester. I guess everyone at the company has to have a place, no matter how menial the job.”
Gabriel was one of the producers, but everyone knew he had bought his way into the position when AlgerTech had nearly gone under ten years ago. He had come in with reams of cash and bailed them out. He wasn’t even a gamer, but he sure as hell thought he was an expert at Th’loria. The truth was, he had paid someone at the company to create, maintain, and continually level up a character for him to use when he was bored.
I hated that guy, but he’d never actually done anything to me to the best of my knowledge.
So why was this guy suddenly on my mind?
It was actually a double ding. Oz and I had just taken out at least a dozen putridfangs with the help of Thandroot’s explosive. To top off my XP gain I had also assisted in killing a gray wraith. So bully for Oz and me. Level 6 came in a flash, and then level 7 hit.
“That was a good fight.” Thandrooot grinned from ear to ear.
He took a seat on a fallen log and pulled a small leather bota bag out of his satchel. Thandrooot spun the top off, gave it a sniff, and then took a long hard slug. He offered me the drink, but I declined.
“We almost got our asses kicked,” I said.
“But we didn’t. So let’s get into this shrine. Path’s clear,” Thandrooot said and took another long drink.
“What was that thing you gave us? It took out half of the swamp,” I asked.
“Thunder, are ya deaf? Created it myself. I have a few left in case we run into any more trouble.”
“Let’s not get too crazy,” I said. “That one nearly blasted us all.”
“Aye. Beauty, ain’t she?” Thandroot grinned like a maniac.
“I’m not sure that
would be my first word choice.”
“Put some hair on your chest, lad,” Thandroot said and slurped at the skin again and winked at me.
“Yeah? Let me try some,” Oz said.
Oz smelled the contents, took a sip, and then his face pinched up. He coughed, pounded his chest a couple of times, and then drank again.
“Walt. You have to try this.” Oz offered me the skin
I tore my eyes off my HUD.
“Did you see the new stuff?” I asked Oz.
“Huh?”
“HUD. Did you look at it yet?”
Oz’s eyes drifted up as he took another drink.
“Cool,” Oz said then slapped his chest again as he sucked down a little more of Thandroot’s gut rot.
“Numbers. Just look at our XP bar,” I said.
“Righteous,” Oz sounded bored.
I wasn’t bored. I was fascinated.
220/800 XP
To next level flashed underneath my XP bar.
Finally! A real number that compared to the game back in our world. I had no idea how many XP points our recent kills had earned us, but I knew I’d be able to deduce them in the future. In fact…
“Hey, guys. Let’s find another mob and kill it,” I said.
“A mob, you say?” Thandroot asked.
“Yeah, a mobile. Like a monster.”
“What’s the hurry? Plenty to kill as we dig into this stupid quest you dragged us on,” Oz said and slugged back more of Thandroot’s liquor.
“It’s not stupid. It’s going to get us setup in town. Besides, they seem like they really need us in Weslori,” I argued.
“Gonna get us fucking killed is what it’s going to get us,” Oz burped. “I think you’ve forgotten the fact that this isn’t real. We’re in a game,” Oz said. “A game that hurts a lot.”
“I haven’t forgotten shit, Oz. I’m trying to make the best of it. If we’re stuck in a new VR world, in a dream, or we’re fucking batteries for a computer, none of it matters because we’re not going anywhere unless we figure out how to get off this server and jump to an upgraded server where I can access my characters. Hell, if we get to a regular server we can flag down other players and let them know we’re stuck here. They can call 911.”
Oz rolled his eyes, blew out a breath, and then tossed back more of whatever Thandroot had offered me to drink.
“Game? Can’t say I’ve ever heard of Th’loria referred to as a game,” Thandroot said and got to his feet. “Strange words you and the others use. Very odd indeed.”
“Strange words. Strange worlds.” Oz burped.
This idiot was going to get us all killed if he didn’t stop drinking.
“Maybe you have the right idea. Let me try that stuff?” I held out my hand.
“Finally coming around?” Oz handed me the skin.
I sniffed the spout and blanched. Good lord, it smelled like cranberries mixed with rubbing alcohol. I lifted the skin over my head and then hurled it into the center of the swamp.
“Oi! What have you done?” Thandroot yelled.
“Saved Oz from getting killed,” I replied.
“It’s not going to prevent me from killing you,” Thandroot roared.
“Would you keep it down, all of you,” Karian said in a stern voice. “It’s like you’re begging every damn creature in this swamp to turn us into lunch.”
“I had one skin of Rothian Brandy, and now it’s in the swamp.” Thandroot heaved himself to his feet, shot me an outraged look, and then trudged into the marsh.
Thandroot pushed aside weeds, stepped around larger pools of murky water, and stomped on something that wiggled around under his feet.
“That was stupid,” Oz growled.
“He’ll get over it. He’s just an NPC. I bet as soon as we get him back on the path to assaulting the fallen temple he’ll have forgotten all about his…” I crinkled my nose, “whatever that crap was.”
“No, you complete idiot. I meant you just threw away our only liquor,” Oz said.
“If you want it so bad you can just walk back to town. Like you pointed out it’s only a little way off. We’ll chill here and wait,” I crossed my arms over my chest.
Oz got to his feet and in my face. “Don’t tempt me. I’m about a minute away from leaving you here to whatever the hell you’re doing. I figure I can find a bigger town and I’ll be running the place in a few days. Or at least until they get us out of this goddamn game.”
“You two need to stop.” Karian pushed her slim body between us.
“Why?” Oz asked. “It’s not like anything we do here is real.”
“Being friends isn’t real?” Karian said.
“We weren’t friends at work, and we’re barely friends here. I say let him go if he wants to go,” I spat.
“That’s because you’re lazy at AlgerTech. Takes you three days to do what it takes anyone else an hour. You always wonder why you get passed over for promotion or rejected from applying for a new team. There’s your answer,” Oz said.
“I’m not lazy, and you’re a nosy asshole at work.” I thought of the symbols that would plaster Oz with a bolt of ice.
“Oh. What are you going to do? Shoot me? That’s real mature.”
“You two are both stupid. We’re stuck in a fantasy world with barely any understanding of why we’re here or the mechanics of how the world works, and all you want to do is argue,” Karian looked between us. “Continue this after we go get that shard sliver.”
“Whatever,” Oz said.
He shot me a look that was pure hatred, so I returned it. I was just about sick to death of Oz’s constant bitching and moaning. He had no idea how important I was to our group at work. Was he the real reason I’d been passed over? Always talking about me behind my back?
“Yeah. Whatever,” I said.
I frowned and pushed the symbols away and didn’t blast Oz in the face. I don’t care how good his training was. I could have blinded him and then crushed Oz's head with my mace. No matter how fast he thought he was, I would have sent Oz to the binding stone so quickly he wouldn’t know what hit him until he woke up naked.
“Found it,” Thandroot grinned as he lifted the skin over his head.
Thandroot sniffed the spout, wiped it with his sleeve, took a sip, made a face, then shrugged and drank anyway.
Karian followed me and grabbed my arm before I could do a proper job of storming off. “You guys need to keep it together.”
“Screw that guy,” I said.
“You work well together. Just let him cool off and apologize,” she said.
“Apologize for what? I’m not the one trying to sabotage our mission,” I argued, then spoke a little louder, so Oz overheard me. “He’s the one who’s been a crybaby since we got here.”
“You’re both being crybabies. Jesus,” Karian put her hands on her hips and muttered. “It’s like those male programmers who think I can’t do my job because I have breasts.”
“You’re good at your job,” I said lamely and wisely didn’t mention her breasts.
“I know. Point is, you don’t think. If you, Oz, Thandroot, and I cannot all work together, we don’t have a chance at finishing this quest and you know it.”
“There’s a shrine over there,” Thandroot pointed at a distant blue object that the fog had just revealed. He still stood knee deep in swamp water and didn’t seem to care. He lifted the skin, took another sip, then replaced the cap, looked at me, and slipped into his jacket.
Oz followed Thandroot’s gesture, nodded, and stomped toward it. Thandroot shrugged and followed.
“Come on. Let’s go get this over with,” Karian said.
“I think you're great, Karian,” I said, and then my face flushed.
“You’re pretty great yourself,” she smiled. “You and Oz saved us back there, and that’s the point I’m trying to make. You guys make a good team.”
“We all make a good team,” I acquiesced. “I’ll talk to Oz.”
&nbs
p; “Good plan,” Karian looked like she wanted to say something else but whatever it was would have to wait.
Oz yelled in fear.
We spun in his direction and went to see what new horror awaited.
KARIAN and I hustled to catch up with Oz. He had been there a second ago, and now he wasn’t in sight. Thandroot somehow outpaced us even though his legs were half as long as mine. He slogged through the swampy marsh pushing aside creeping vines and plants that grew up from the nightmare landscape.
There were no paths and as I pursued Thandroot, I found out just how hard it was to walk through this kind of murk and gloom. Every step was like a bag of sand was attached to my ankles. Karian trudged along beside me as she sought out dry spots to place her feet.
“Where are ya, lad?” Thandroot called out as he ran.
The fog closed around us, and suddenly it was impossible to see more than a few feet ahead. Karian’s questing fingers found my hand and clutched it tight. I held on as we worked through the muck and slime and I had no intention of letting go until we found Oz.
“Would have been nice if you learned an illumination spell,” Karian said.
“It’s a good idea but I’m limited in the number of spells I can learn,” I panted. “I’m not sure why they ganked mages so hard. I can only have two spells but I just leveled up so I can have at least one more.”
“Retorical, Walt.” Karian shot me a side look.
“Right. Of course.”
The murk grew even darker until Karian came to a stop. I did as well but didn’t let go of her hand.
“Where are you guys?” she called out.
A voice whispered close to my ear, but I couldn’t make out the words. I spun and Karian and I broke apart. I reached for her, but she was gone.
Something clinked nearby. I spun again and reached out to find Karian’s hand, but she wasn’t there.
“Karian?” I whispered.
I readied my ice blast and lifted the staff. Something was out there.
An object touched my shoulder. I spun again and said Karian’s name louder.
A white hand withdrew and faded into the fog. I could barely see a few inches in front of my face.
SHARDS OF REALITY: A LitRPG novel (Enter the Realm Book 1) Page 23
