Soulstone: Awakening (World of Ruul Book 1)

by J. A. Cipriano

“Hello,” I called, filling my voice with confidence even as my knees shook.

  “It’s been a while since I have faced an adventurer,” the demon said, nodding its head in a way that caused the black as the hair on Satan’s ass horns jutting from its bald skull to spear the air like it was an angry longhorn steer.

  “I wish it’d have been longer,” Crash muttered beside me as he stared at the demon, and I found it hard to disagree with him. I’d never seen anything like this, and from the look of him he seemed way too strong for a low level dungeon.

  The demon took a step forward and the velociraptor claws jutting from his toes clicked on the hard-packed earth of the arena floor.

  “Let us fight like gentlemen.” The demon raised his fists like he was an old English boxer, completely ignoring the massive sword strapped to his back or the morning star attached to his belt, which was fine by me.

  “Yeah, all right,” Two’ Manchu said, confidence I’d never heard from him filling his voice. His axe and club disappeared from his hands as he took his own step forward and raised his fists. “You want to box, let’s box.”

  “Excellent,” the cobalt demon chortled before throwing a jab at the air. A sonic boom cracked across the space between us as Two’ Manchu stood there, looking completely unfazed.

  “Is that all you’ve got?” the barbarian asked, wiping his nose with one fist like he was some kind of gangster. “Because I’ll have you know I was president of my high school boxing club. I could have been a contender if I hadn’t blown out my knee during practice.” He smacked his knee with one meaty fist. “That won’t bother me here, though.”

  “Then this will be a good fight,” the demon replied before throwing his head back and laughing once again. His sharpened teeth stretched so far backward in his mouth, I could practically see them reach all the way down to Hell itself.

  “You’re not seriously going to box that thing, are you Tubs of Fun?” George asked as the big demon began to circle the barbarian like a combination shark wolf. “Because I like you, and it would make me very sad if you were to die…”

  “Of course I’m going to box him,” Two’ Manchu said, raising his fists and shifting his feet so he kept the demon in front of him. “This is my fucking jam.”

  As the demon lunged forward, his impossibly muscled arm snaking through the air like a barbarian-seeking missile, Two’ Manchu danced like a butterfly. His head weaved to the side as he stepped effortlessly around the attack and stung like a bee, driving his own fist into the monster’s chin. The blow seemed to reverberate across the demon’s jaw in slow motion as its feet went out from under it, and it crashed to the ground more than a little dazed and confused.

  Two’ Manchu shook his head. “You are not prepared,” he snorted, circling the creature as it tried to get to its feet. As it managed to pull itself upright, Two’ Manchu hit it again with a devastating uppercut that snapped the creature’s head backward and sent it flying backward onto its butt.

  The demon sat there, eyes distant and far off as Two’ Manchu stood there, one fist on his hips.

  Then, very slowly, the thing shook its head like it was trying to get itself back in the game. Only it didn’t seem to be able to do it because as it put one hand on the ground to steady itself, it sort of missed the floor and flopped onto its face.

  “What the fuck?” George said, his bunny eyes wide with shock. To be honest, I agreed with the bunny. I’d never seen anything like this before. “Did you just KO a cobalt demon?”

  “That’s a demon? More like a wannabe-pretender,” Two’ Manchu said, turning to look at us as the demon tried to rise again, failed, and collapsed to the ground.

  “Devils! Avenge me!” the cobalt demon slurred. While the words were hard to make out because the thing’s jaw looked to be broken, something must have heard it because gouts of crimson flame spewed from the rent in the ground that had spat out its cage.

  A dozen creatures that looked a lot like miniature skeletons dipped in red candlewax pulled themselves free of the flames and turned their beady black eyes on us. Their sharpened devil’s tails arced up over their heads like they were scorpions and lava dripped from the tips, causing the ground in front of them to hiss and spit.

  “Die, mortals!” cried the first devil to pull itself out as it sprinted toward us with each of its jagged red claws glinting in the bloody light, and like a horrible game of follow the leader, the rest came charging after it.

  “It’d be a shame if you were to run into something hard like my dick or an icicle!” George cried, hopping forward and launching an ice bolt at the charging devil. The blast caught the creature full in the chest, fast freezing the monster and halting it in its tracks as hoarfrost spread across its body like someone had thrown a bucket full of liquid nitrogen into its face. The sudden stop in momentum caused by being fast frozen made the creature to tumble forward across the arena floor like a broken mannequin.

  “Divine Hammer!” Dark Heart cried, swinging her warhammer in an upward arc that caught the tumbling devil under the chin and shattered its skull into a billion scintillating shards right before its body exploded into burst of color.

  My experience bar shuddered upward as the devil’s still wriggling tail fell to the ground in the smoking ruin of its corpse. Dark Heart ignored it as she stepped through the bits of debris rained down around her and slammed her shield into the next devil, knocking it off its feet and onto its ass.

  As that happened, Crash’s spectral blades came zipping forward, slashing into the backs of a couple devils and causing them to whirl away from the main charge.

  “I’m going for the boss!” Two’ Manchu called, pulling out his axe and charging toward the cobalt demon with reckless abandon. I didn’t see what happened as he approached the still dazed monster because I was suddenly fighting for my life despite my teleportation sickness.

  The devils slashed at me with their claws and jabbed at me with their tails as I sidestepped through the closest one’s attack. My health bar dropped by a lot more than it should have thanks to my teleportation sickness, but it turned out to be a blessing in disguise because my sickness evaporated as I reappeared behind it and executed my own Power Strike.

  My scythe came up between the creature’s legs, cutting into its crotch and eliciting a shrill scream that made me wince in sympathy. As the devil’s legs buckled, and it crashed to the floor, I spun on my heel and dove for the quest item the first one had dropped.

  I grabbed the still flopping tail in my outstretched hand, and as I did, Elizabeth cooed in my ear. “You have acquired quest item, devil’s tail. It has been deposited in your quest items tab.”

  The item disappeared from my hand as I rolled in time to avoid a stinger that buried itself in the ground where my head had been. I came up on my feet and swung my scythe around and catching the tail where it was embedded in the ground. My blade cut straight through the devil’s fleshy tail, sending a spray of molten lava through the air as the monster howled in agony.

  Its tail flopped on the ground like a headless fish as I readied my scythe and used Blade Rush. Normally, it would be a bad idea to use on a monster that was ready for me, but since this one was suddenly too concerned with the fact I had lopped off its tail to do more than clutch the ruined stump in vain, it was perfect.

  My scythe came around wreathed in energy and tore into the devil, reducing him to a pile of glittering shards.

  “Level up!” Elizabeth said as blue light flashed around me, and my level increased to nine, but even better, my mana and health went back to full.

  I spun on my heel ready to engage the next monster to see Crash, George, and Dark Heart taking on the remaining devils. Already the devils’ numbers had been reduced by half. I had half a mind to go and help them, but before I did, I glanced over my shoulder at Two’ Manchu.

  He was battling against the cobalt demon, and while the monster seemed woozy from their boxing match, it had managed to unsheathe both its massive sword and i
ts morning star, and even its drunken attacks were more than enough to keep the barbarian at bay.

  “Need some help?” I called, aiming my scythe at the cobalt demon and rushing forward.

  In retrospect, I shouldn’t have said anything because the demon turned and kicked me square in the face as I charged forward with my Blade Rush. My feet left the ground, and I flew backward and skidded across the ground. My vision swam as Two’ Manchu rushed in, driving the demon back before it could impale me with its sword or crush me with its morning star.

  Even still, the massive metal head of the morning star slammed into the arena floor inches from my face, and as the six-inch spikes gouged furrows in the dirt, I saw my life flash before my eyes. That shit would kill me, and if I died, there would be no coming back. I would just end and Ivan would toss my brain in a dumpster somewhere.

  What would my mom think? Hell, would she even know? Would they really tell her? I wasn’t sure, but I instantly decided that wasn’t going to happen. I wasn’t going to die to a fucking virtual monster.

  I scrambled to my feet as the cobalt demon spun on its heel and slashed at Two’ Manchu. The barbarian caught the blow on his axe, but there was so much strength behind it, he was knocked back several feet.

  The sounds of battle raged behind me, but I pushed it down, ignoring my friends’ battle with the summoned devils as I readied myself to attack the cobalt demon.

  As the cobalt demon turned toward Two’ Manchu, it lunged forward, swinging its morning star through the air. As the spiked ball of death crashed into Two’ Manchu’s axe with an eruption of sparks, I changed tactics and initiated Blade Rush.

  My body surged forward as the barbarian stumbled backward to the ground, and the demon raised its sword to impale him. I pushed all my strength into the charge, willing my body to go faster. Arcs of electricity leapt from my scythe as I whipped it around and struck at the cobalt demon’s exposed neck.

  Its arm shot up, catching the killing edge of the scythe on the gauntlet attached to its wrist, and as the force of the blow rang down my hands, the scythe’s blade shattered into a billion shards of metal. The haft still came around and smacked immaterially into the monster’s armor as it turned toward me and grinned.

  “Let’s see how tough you are without your scythe,” it said, whipping its morning star out at me like a bullwhip with so much speed, there was no way, I could block it, let alone dodge it.

  34

  The cobalt demon’s morning star tore into my side as I dropped my broken scythe and used my Sidestep skill. Agony exploded across the length of my body, and my health plummeted to sixteen percent as I took the attack full on. Still, it was worth it because I phased through the demon and appeared behind him.

  Gritting my teeth, I ignored the blood running down my side and the throbbing, stabbing pain in my ribs as I pulled my two goblin short swords free of my inventory and drove them both into the demon’s back as hard as I could.

  The shriek of goblin steel striking sapphire body armor filled my ears as my swords sliced between the plates in his sapphire armor with a flurry of sparks.

  The demon’s howl echoed across the arena and hot cobalt blood spilled over me as I twisted the blades impaled in his back to widen the wound before tearing them out. More blood gushed from the wounded demon as it stumbled forward. The morning star slipped from its grasp and hit the ground with an empty thud as it reached back to swipe at me.

  I swallowed hard, ignoring his coming attack as I smashed my fist into his kidney. Pain lanced through my fist, and for a moment, I was worried I’d broken it by punching his armor, but as the creature stumbled forward stunned, I remembered we were playing a game. I didn’t have bones to break.

  Nor did I have to feel pain.

  The creature’s claws hit me as that realization hit me like a lead pipe, and while most of the force had been robbed of the monster’s attack, its claws were still sharp enough to cut me even through my coat and chainmail. My health dropped by another three percent and my HUD started flashing like crazy, but it didn’t hurt. Not even a little. Instead, I concentrated on my opponent and gathered up all my remaining mana into the tips of the goblin short swords.

  “Revering Vendetta!” I cried, unleashing all my pain, anguish, and anger at being stuck in this game. Emerald light exploded from my swords, turning them into blades of flaming death as I thrust them through the ragged hole I’d rent in the demon’s sapphire armor.

  My swords struck the monster in the center of the back with enough force for it to ring down my arms. The cobalt demon stumbled forward in as green electricity arced from the wound like lightning. Only, as it stumbled forward, I realized one problem. It wasn’t dead. Not yet, anyway.

  A snarl tore from its lips as it crashed to the ground on all fours and shook off the effects of the stun, its massive black horns spearing the air in a way that made it hard to approach. Blood gushed from the wounds in its back, but as it turned its soulless molten eyes on me, I knew I hadn’t done enough to stop it. No, I’d just done enough to piss it off. Worse, I’d used up all my mana so I couldn’t even heal myself.

  “That was a good try,” the demon snarled, getting to its feet as Two’ Manchu’s massive form came leaping through the air, axe high over his head like he’d meant to lop off the monster’s head. “But it won’t be enough.”

  The cobalt demon’s hand snapped out, effortlessly snatching the barbarian out of midair by the throat and flinging him across the arena like Nolan Ryan fastball. It happened so quickly, I barely had time to process what had happened before the demon stomped toward me, a malevolent grin on his face.

  “That’s what she said,” I replied, reaching into my inventory and grabbing both the medium and lesser healing potions I’d gotten during my snafu with the goblins.

  Without waiting for a response, I popped the tops on both and quaffed them in a single gulp. Red and orange light glowed around my body as thirty percent health returned instantly. Only, that wouldn’t be enough. Even after using both potions, I was barely over forty percent health, and I had no mana. I could probably use Body to Soul, but I wasn’t sure I had time.

  “I hope you have more of those,” the cobalt demon snarled, gripping his massive sword with both hands. A tremor of fear lanced through me as a sneer crossed his ugly face. When the demon had used the sword one-handed, it’d had enough power to knock Two’ Manchu around like a ragdoll. How much stronger would its attacks be when it used the weapon with two hands? Most of me didn’t want to find out, but unfortunately, I was pretty sure it was going to happen, anyway.

  “Why is that?” I asked, taking a deep breath as I grabbed the other two potions I’d found from my inventory. The green haste potion and the purple potion of the brave warrior filled my hand as I took a step back to create some more space between us. Both potions were designed to increase my speed, and the effects supposedly stacked. If I was going to go down, I might as well use them since they’d do me no good if I died.

  “Because if you can’t heal some more, this is going to be a very short fight, adventurer.” The cobalt demon leered at me as he dropped back into a fighting stance with his sword that reminded me of Conan the Barbarian. “And I want to beat you up a bit before you die.”

  “My name is Kahn!” I snapped before gulping down both of the potions.

  They hit me like a double Red Bull with an espresso chaser, and I could have sworn I could actually see the dust motes moving through the air as I dropped the empty vials to the ground.

  As they shattered into a bazillion pieces, I tore forward with all the speed I could muster. My feet flitted across the ground like I was Usain Bolt on steroids and the world turned into a blur of color. The demon loomed in front of me, massive in a way that should have scared me but didn’t. I’d faced stronger opponents before, and I’d won then. I would win now.

  “Very well, Kahn. Prepare to meet your maker,” he said, and the grin on the demon’s face widened as he reared back like
a baseball player about to swing for the fences.

  “I’ll have you know I’ve met my maker, and she’s a very nice lady,” I replied as the demon stepped forward and swung the massive sword at me.

  Only, he wasn’t moving that fast. I wasn’t sure if it was the combined effects of the potions or something else entirely, but I knew I could dodge his attack. I threw myself forward on my knees while leaning backward so the blade passed over me, and as the wind coming off of his massive sword ruffled my hair, I drove the twin swords down onto the tops of his knees. The blades sliced through the leather bindings between the sapphire plates of his armor like a hot knife through warm butter.

  A guttural scream tore from his lips as I tore the swords violently free. Cobalt blood fountained from his ruined knees as I slashed him again. This time, the demon’s legs buckled beneath his immense weight. As the monster tumbled forward into me, I changed the grip on my swords and drove them up into his torso while leaping to my feet with all the strength my legs could muster.

  The armor covering his abdomen gave way like tissue paper under the combined with the force of my attack and his momentum. Sapphire sparks erupted from the ragged edges of its buckled armor as my swords plunged deep into the demon’s body and burst out its back in an explosion of gore that rained down over me in a hot, sticky wave.

  I had half a second to feel like I’d won before physics, the bitch that she is, caused the demon’s massive weight to knock me from my feet. The creature landed hard on top of me, the full brunt of its enormous body landing on my chest and violently expelling the breath from my lungs. The back of my skull smacked against the earth as my swords were torn violently from my hands and sent spinning to the arena floor.

  The cobalt demon’s burning blood soaked through my coat and armor, plastering them to my torso as it collapsed on top of me. His eyes met mine as more blood gushed out of the creature and pooled around us.

  “Die, Kahn!” he wheezed, lurching forward as his serrated jaw unhinged like a snake, and he reared back to strike me.