Watcher’s Fate: A LitRPG Saga (Life in Exile Book 3)

by Sean Oswald

  “You want to keep Krinnk safe?” she asked hesitantly.

  “Of course, he is your friend, isn’t he? And things may get tense around here with an army of evil goblins coming to attack us. Some of the people in town may not see Krinnk the way that you do. Some of them may think he is one of the enemy. Do you think that you can help to keep him safe by making sure he doesn’t do anything silly?”

  Sara looked at him for a moment with those big brown eyes. It didn’t’ matter that they had a slight almond shape to them now. Those were still the eyes that had been looking up at him since he first held her in the hospital. “Yes, daddy. And … umm … daddy, I’m sorry for what I did. I know I shouldn’t have gone down those stairs. I shouldn’t have hidden from the people trying to help. They just wanted to keep me safe.”

  Dave hadn’t been sure if she would make the intuitive leap between his comments about keeping Krinnk safe and her own indiscretions, but he was proud of her for doing so. “That makes me very happy to hear, and I know it will make your mother happy. Now this doesn’t mean that your punishment is over, but maybe we can arrange for Krinnk to visit with you some. It might be best to keep him out of sight anyway.”

  Sara shifted up onto her knees and gave Dave a tight hug. “Oh, thank you daddy, thank you.”

  “Remember, no promises, but we will see. Now, I have one more question for you. Are you able to tell where Altracia is? That is your new friend’s name, right?”

  “Hmmm, well she is closer than Snowball but definitely not in the town. She feels so big and overwhelming when I think about her, and it’s almost like I can hear her in my mind.”

  “Sara, do you think that your friend is the drake or is it the dungeon core that runs the dungeon? I mean that rock in the back room,” Dave said.

  “Um, well, I think of my friend as the pretty green drake. Her wings are so beautiful. I think her home is the little rock, but I don’t know how she fits into it,” Sara said. The shrug of confusion she gave was irresistibly cute.

  “Think of the rock like her brain. It can make bodies like the drake but also bodies like the other monsters that are in the dungeon and even things like the stairs that you went down. Do you think you would be able to talk to her?”

  “Are you mad at her? I don’t want her to get into trouble,” Sara said nervously.

  “No sweetie. I want to talk to her and make a deal with her. Basically, I want to be friends with her too.”

  “Oh, that would be wonderful. I can try to talk to her.”

  “It’s okay. You can wait till we find time to go visit her home,” Dave said as he watched her squeeze her hands and strain. Her cheeks puffed out as she held her breath with the amount of effort she was exerting.”

  Dave tried to shake her. Then she opened her eyes and said, “She agreed to come and visit but said it might take a little bit till she got here. She said something about not shooting her.” Then, as soon as she finished speaking, Sara passed out, sound asleep. Dave immediately worried. He shook her lightly and then listened for a heartbeat, felt her breathing. As far as he could tell, she was just sleeping. Maybe the strain of whatever she had done had put her to sleep, but this was Eloria, so he needed to go and find Emily to double check on her condition.

  After waking a sluggish Mira and alerting Jackson to keep an eye on Sara, he ran out looking for Emily. It didn’t take long for him to find her. A few simple questions asked around town and he was directed to the area where the forces from the church of Shanelle were.

  She didn’t see him approach, but he could see that a cot was laid out, and Jaselm was on it apparently as a patient. Emily was kneeling next to him, and he could feel the intensity of the energy around her. Around her on one side was a trio of elven men holding blue mana potions in their hands. Behind her and trying to look over her shoulders were all of the other priests in town, regardless of which deity they served. While on the other side of her was a cluster of human men and women seemingly headed up by Gertrude, the old town herbalist. They had various potions and powders in their hands.

  As Dave got closer, he could see the strain on Emily’s face as though she were struggling to lift something very heavy. He also saw the two groups around her arguing about which options would be best for providing more mana to Emily.

  Trying to get to the bottom of it, Dave asked, “Is something wrong?”

  Without looking back to see who had spoken, the young acolyte of Mishpat responded, “Shhssh.”

  Emily, however, did turn her head and smiled weakly at him. “Oh I’m glad you are here. I’m so close I can feel it but can’t seem to get enough mana to do what I need to for Jaselm.” As she spoke, everyone looked at him, and the acolyte’s face went ashen white before bowing very low.

  Dave just waved his hand indicating that it was no big deal, although the look that the priest of Mishpat gave to his subordinate implied that it might end up less pleasantly later on. As he glanced at each of the groups, Dave said, “I take it that you are trying potions and um ... whatever else can be used to encourage your mana regeneration.” He even saw some of the seaweed looking stuff the elves called kirashemi in a bowl on the ground next to her.

  Instead of letting Emily speak up, the various groups started to argue about their respective theories for how to achieve this. Dave listened for a minute and began to wonder if his wife was more tired from expending mana or from listening to the various factions argue.

  “Enough. It isn’t about having faster mana regeneration. I need mana regeneration and more mana to start with, much more.” Emily’s tone made it clear that she had already said this more than once. She smiled at Dave, then when everyone else got quiet, she said, “I reached Tier 3 and have not only the Life Salve spell, but I also gained a new class ability called Internal Medicine. So I can apply the power of the spell directly to his insides, but the damage is far worse than I thought. I think Jaselm has been using his own healing abilities to hold the worst of the damage at bay, but it has been spreading. From what I can tell without any proper medical equipment, almost all of his organs are on the verge of failure. The acid damage inside of him has spread, and there is necrotic tissue everywhere.”

  Dave listened and then asked, “So can’t you just cast the spell multiple times then?”

  “The spell tries to restore him to homeostasis, and if the wound was limited to his lungs, it would not have been a problem. The thing is that the spell has to do it all at once. Since it can't cure everything in one casting, even with me funneling extra mana into it, his body reverts back to its damaged state before the cool down is over. I have already tried twice. What’s worse is that each time his body reverts back, it causes more damage, not to mention excruciating pain. I fear that another attempt could kill him, but if I don’t try, then he will be dead in a day, two at the most.”

  They talked back and forth, brainstorming. But the more that they talked, the more frustrated Dave got. He felt like each solution he offered got shot right down either by Emily or another of the priests. The problem was that they thought it was going to take thousands of mana to complete the spell, and even borrowing magical items which store mana, Emily wouldn’t have that much mana. Moreover, the strain of individually handling all that power would be overwhelming. Finally, in desperation, Dave said, “Well is there a way that multiple casters can join together to cast the spell together?”

  Emily looked hopeful at that moment. “That’s brilliant. Is there?”

  The priests all shuffled back and forth before Dougan, the priest of Shanelle who had been sent to Eris’ Rise by the bishop, said, “Yes, there is. It is rarely used, and I did consider it, but even with Gabriella here, I don’t think that we have enough servants of Shanelle here to make it work, or I would have already suggested it.”

  “What about if the other priests help though?” Emily asked.

  “Chosen, I mean no disrespect, but we could never mingle our mana with theirs in a ritual,” Dougan said. His words
were calm, but his face look scandalized, and his breathing was coming just a bit faster.

  “Why not? We all have mana. I don’t see the difference. For that manner, why couldn’t Dave help and Mira, too? They both have large mana pools.”

  Ashton the priest of Karbanot said, “I can answer that one. Theoretically, Mira could join in, but Baron Murkwood could not because one must be able to cast Essence Magic to join in the pyramid.”

  Emily asked, “Pyramid?” just as Mira appeared. Dave was immediately concerned, but his eldest daughter mouthed, “She’s fine.”

  The priests all began to explain that a pyramid was what the formation used to cast group rituals was called. It required that there be numerically increasing rows which all channeled their power into the row in front of them. Each layer, or row, had to be exactly double the number of casters in the preceding row and each layer lost slightly more of the mana that they could contribute, starting with 10% from the first row and increasing by another 10% for each subsequent layer.

  “Okay, well this is perfect then. We have enough for four layers as I understand. I will be the focal point, then there will be two, four, and finally, eight in the final row. So we only need fifteen essence magic casters. Don’t tell me that we can’t work with each other. We all are trying to serve the greater good here.”

  “Even assuming that all the churches can work together, we still don’t have that many essence magic users,” Dougan said.

  “Why? There are 2 priests of Shanelle, myself and 4 acolytes. A priest of Mishpat and 4 acolytes. A priest of Karbanot and 1 acolyte. Then Mira can join in, and that makes 15.”

  “Ah, I see where the misunderstanding is, Chosen. Not all of the acolytes have the potential for essence magic. Some are simply dutiful servants of their chosen god or goddess and cannot actually cast healing magic,” Dougan answered.

  Reverend Rupp, the priest of Mishpat said, “Yes, by my count, we are short six casters even including your daughter, Lady Murkwood.”

  Emily started pacing back and forth. Dave knew that look well. She was not gonna give up until she had come to a conclusion.

  “We could try it with only seven of us, mom,” Mira said.

  Emily didn’t answer, so Dave said, “I think she doesn’t want to risk Jaselm’s life and has her mind set on getting fifteen casters.”

  “Well then, what about the elves?” Mira asked.

  Emily rushed over and gave Mira a hug oblivious to the way it embarrassed her daughter. “I could kiss you. That’s so perfect.”

  If the priests had blown up about the idea of working with the other churches, they started to become apoplectic at the idea of working with the druids. Cries of heresy and such were common.

  One said, “My lady, it simply can’t be done. They are heathens.”

  Dave cut them off. “Explain to me slowly as the one who doesn’t cast essence magic. Is there some difference between their essence magic and yours? Don’t you cast the same spells?”

  The priest sputtered, “Well yes, but our mana is blessed by the true Gods. It is not a function of simple magic.”

  “Bah,” Emily said. “Our blessing from the Gods is our character. The mercy and love with which we can seek redemption and justice even at the cost of personal sacrifice. Magic is just a tool.”

  The argument went on for some time before Emily finally said, “Look you either go along with this, or you get out Eris’ Rise.”

  The servants of Shanelle fell in line once she took that tone, and even those of Karbanot remained silent, but those of Mishpat started to protest again. Dave had had enough by that point. A sense of power rose up within him again. He was not going to see his wife defied in front of his face. He said a single word but imbued it with deadly intent. “Now!”

  Even the blustering priest was able to see how serious it was, and they all became quiet. One of the elven alchemists was sent off to find the druids, who protested just as much when they arrived. It once again came down to an order being issued by Emily. After that came the bickering between them about who would be where. Since Aoi, the leader of the druids was the only Tier 3 besides Emily and Mira, they were going to act as the first layer after Emily. Then the four priests served as the second row with the final row being composed of the remaining druids and the acolytes who could cast.

  Dave could feel the spell energy building as each of the casters in the back row started pushing the mana into the person in front of them. The expressions upon their faces spoke first of pain and then almost looked like pleasure as they obviously struggled to gain control of all the energy and then push it forward. Somehow though, they worked in sync, and it was immediately apparent when the third row started pushing both their own mana and what they had received into the second row.

  Mira undoubtedly would have been better able to describe the process, but at the moment, Dave could see the struggle that passed across her face and even moreso on the face of Aoi. He assumed Mira was better at handling it because it was literally what her class did, but either way, both women were clearly getting the surging energy under their control.

  Just as they started feeding the energy into Emily, Dave saw a growing crowd of people. First it was the casters, who likely felt the massive spell form that was being created. Then, as more people gathered ‘round, others were drawn by the crowd. Dave felt the power of Emily’s spell finally release into Jaselm, and likely close to a third of the town had stopped what they were doing in order to watch.

  As the energy transferred into the paladin, it felt like the air grew thicker around the center. The colors grew brighter. Everything just felt more real, more tangible. Then there was a moment where all that pressure released and whooshed out from the point where Emily’s hand rested upon his chest. There were no lights, no fancy colors or sounds, just a sense of wellness that washed over everyone, causing them to rock back on their heels and then sigh.

  Everyone waited as anticipation built. First, Emily stood with her head hung, causing a murmur of fear to pass through the crowd. A moment later, Jaselm’s hand shot up and grabbed her hand. The paladin swung his legs over the side of the cot and then stood up. He looked as fit and hale as he ever had as he lifted Emily’s hand up over their heads like some sort of prize fighter. He shouted out, “Blessed be the Chosen!”

  Chapter Thirty

  “Denied by destiny, ours is a fate forged by our own hands.” — Alucien, Archmage of the Imperium

  Eris’ Rise - Dave Nelson

  The people of Eris’ Rise cheered, celebrating the victory achieved by their leader. Then as was the nature of the common hard-working folk, they returned to their homes, finished their chores, or went to the mess hall for breakfast. Morganthal and Ozakai organized them and spread the word. Everyone soon knew to meet at the partially built church of Shanelle or the Sacred Ash depending on which race they belonged to. In reality of course, both sites were the same place just thought of differently based upon heritage.

  As for the Nelson’s, they had a private breakfast. Jackson would have to leave shortly after the morning ceremony, and so they wanted as much time together as possible. Dave had to explain to Emily about his conversation with Sara this morning and some of what he hoped might be accomplished by a partnership with the dungeon. She was of course irritated and had to check Sara out but ultimately was on too much of a high from the successful healing of Jaselm to be upset for more than a few minutes. Emily was actually so psyched that Dave had to talk her out of trying to go and heal Kraden’s hand and foot and insisted that it would have to wait till the ceremony was over.

  Once the entire population was gathered, besides some of the guards who rotated to keep some defense up, the Nelson’s began their trek to a raised platform set up in front of the sacred ash, which had now grown to be over one hundred feet tall with numerous seed pods growing down from its branches. Dave braced himself as he climbed the stairs after his family. He knew very well that they could lose a large chunk of their
population today. He and Emily had discussed it, and they expected most of the town to stay but thought they might lose as much as 20% of their people, the ones who would prefer to take some silver and leave for safety. They were both parents and had decided that they would not take it personally but would instead understand anyone who wanted to leave for the safety of their children.

  Everyone quieted as Dave stood to address them. He looked back at his family as well as Baron Eikhorn, Tabor, Gunidar and the baron’s guard, all sitting upon the platform. Dave breathed in deeply. Within him there was a struggle, an inner war of sorts. A part of him wished to demand that all obey and follow him, for he alone knew what was best for them. Meanwhile, another part of him felt woefully unqualified for any of this and wanted to urge the people to flee. He drew strength from one side of the internal struggle and wisdom from the other. “People of Eris’ Rise, the time has come for you to make a decision. I told you before of my plans. I know those words are fresh in your minds for I have heard them being repeated all around town. Now, any who wish to leave the Murkwood, may do so. I will not embarrass you and ask you to come forward or raise your hand. Rather, I will ask that you quietly move towards the back during the ceremony which is to follow. Morganthal and Ozakai will be in the back shortly and will give 10 silver per head to each person or family which wishes to leave. You may leave with our blessing and well wishes.”

  There was a soft murmuring in the crowd, but no movement which Dave chose to take as a good sign. “If you intend to stay, then you will come up and present yourself to my wife and me. You will swear allegiance, not to us specifically, but to the rulers of the Murkwood. No one is being asked to break your vows to obey King Borstein of Albia or the Moon Elf Throne, and neither my wife nor I will break our vows of fealty, but if you would remain, we require your oath. Your oath to the rulers but equally so to the ideals which our land is meant to embody. Ideals such as unity, freedom, equality, redemption, justice, and self-sacrifice. In return, if you freely give your oath, know that we will make good our word to you and shall do all in our power to strengthen you and yours. As the Murkwood rises, so shall you. As the Murkwood falls, so too shall you. For we will be bound together, not as humans and elves but as one people.”