Drake's LitRPG Megabundle (7 Books)

by Adam Drake

  The mark of the crescent moon blindsided him. A sucker punch from the mind of whoever, or whatever, was in control of this grand carnival show he was trapped in.

  He'd been doing well, too. The death of Perrin and the advancement of the kingdom to level two were steps along a path. A path to getting out of here and back home. But the tattoo on his face made those steps feel tiny, and insignificant.

  What was the point of all this if there was another future intended for him?

  He sighed and twisted around so his feet were on the cold floor. Don't do this to yourself, Rob, he thought. You're going to waste yet another day drifting along accomplishing nothing. The mess you're avoiding outside will eventually come in here. It will have to be dealt with. You're part of the game now.

  He rubbed at his left temple for the millionth time. Although he couldn't feel it with his finger tips, he knew it was still there. A banner, a warning sign.

  Scoffing at his dour thoughts he tugged on his leather boots, no less for comfort than to protect against the cold floor.

  As he stood, his headache shifted, intensified. He gasped and tried to keep his head together with both hands. Did he fall on his head the night before trying to use the chamberpot? He couldn't remember. In fact, he couldn't remember anything. And then he realized it.

  He didn't dream last night. No nightmare, nothing. The same as the night before, too. No creepy Twilight Zone nonsense of people chanting next to bonfires and Saif sucking at his face.

  At least he had that going for him. Hopefully the nightmare was a one-off event, his mind trying to cope with the bizarro-land freakshow he'd been caught in.

  He looked over at the door with a chair rammed up against it. Saif had been persistent that he speak to him. The Sage was worried for his well being. Would he please let him in. Etc. Etc.

  After seeing his new tattoo Rob didn't want to see anyone, let alone speak to them. Saif especially. He didn't really trust him. In fact, he didn't trust anybody.

  He'd locked himself away while his mind reeled. Why was the mark on his face? Had it been there all along since his arrival? He'd played the events of the past several days over and over and never once was he given a chance to see his reflection. Only after he'd leveled up the kingdom. Was there a reason behind that or just a coincidence?

  When he'd first entered this place, before he arrived on the island, he had been presented a type of movie to watch. Battles and fights with fantastical combatants across a myriad of landscapes. In each one was a bearded man marked with a crescent moon tattoo on his left temple.

  Had that man been meant to be him all along? Were those events going to happen, or might they just be possibilities?

  The image of the bearded man sitting atop a throne, his eyes wide with madness, chilled Rob. A throne that was slowly consuming him, merging with his flesh.

  What the hell was that suppose to mean?

  There was a knock at the door. Soft, almost tentative.

  “My Lord, are you awake?” It was Saif. Again. He wasn't going to go away. Rob didn't doubt that, if it took years until he opened the door, the Sage would still knock every single day.

  “There are matters we need to attend to, my Lord. Do I have your permission to enter?”

  Rob sighed and rubbed at his stubbly chin. He needed answers, and hiding in here wouldn't provide them. He had to return to his original plan, play the role of king and adventurer until he can find a way out.

  A way back home.

  Saif pushed at the door and it rattled against the chair. Rob pulled it aside and opened the door.

  The Sage's face brightened upon seeing him. “My Lord! You're awake! That is wonderful. Um, are you feeling better?” His robes were soaked from the drizzle. Had he been out there all this time?

  The day before, Rob had shouted through the door that he felt sick and wanted to be left alone. It wasn't really a lie on both counts. “Yeah, I feel great, Saif. No worries. I needed some time to myself to recuperate.”

  “I understand, my Lord,” Saif said.

  Rob looked out at the muddy surroundings and spotted a large trunk next to the door. “What is that?”

  “Oh, that, my Lord, is for your Royal Holdings.”

  “My what?”

  “For you to store your loot, sire. I thought it best to have it into your manor since yours is the only building with a, uh, door at the moment.”

  “Okay, fine. Let's move it in here.”

  The trunk was so large and bulky it took both men several minutes to squeeze it through the doorframe. Its contents clattered about, inside. The activity drummed up an aching memory of him helping friends move, back in the real world.

  They shoved the trunk against one wall. Since the room was so small to begin with it wasn't really out of the way.

  Rob opened it. Inside he saw a small clutter of items, the weapons and bits of armor he and Jace had collected before.

  “A great haul, my Lord, if I may say so,” Saif said. He put too much emphasis on making it sound genuine.

  “No, it's not, it sucks,” Rob said, frowning down at his ill gotten gains. “Nothing but junk, to be honest.”

  “Well, my Lord, you have to start somewhere and you did pick up a number of useful items that will help in your questing.”

  Rob didn't want to talk about that right then. He closed the trunk and turned to look Saif in the eyes. The Sage looked expectantly at him.

  “What the hell is this?” Rob said, pointing at his left temple, its skin rubbed raw.

  “What is what, sire?”

  “This. This tattoo, here. The mark on my temple.”

  Saif blinked and raised his eyebrows. “The mark of the Chosen One?”

  “Is that what it is?”

  “Yes, sire. The Gods have marked you, thus.”

  “Well, I don't want to me marked, thus. Can you get rid of it?”

  The Sage blanched. “You want to remove it, sire?”

  Rob waved his hands in frustration. “Give it to me straight, Saif. Am I stuck with this thing on my face?”

  “Yes, sire. It's a marking from the Gods. I doubt anything can remove it save for the Gods themselves.”

  “I could cut it off,” Rob said, thoughtfully.

  “What!?” Sage said.

  “Never mind. Just tell me why didn't you mention this to me before?”

  “The mark?” Saif said a little bewildered.

  “Yes!”

  “Well, to be completely honest, my Lord, I didn't think it was a matter even worth mentioning. It never crossed my mind that it would be an issue.”

  Realization dawned on the Sage's face. He looked over at the smashed mirror on the floor. “Is that why you shut yourself away, my Lord? You saw the mark and were... unhappy?”

  Rob grimaced at the wording. “That was part of it, sure. So I've had this thing on my face since I arrived, yeah?”

  “Yes, my Lord.”

  Scoffing, Rob went over and plopped down on the bed. Saif stood before him, his hands rubbing together like little worried animals. “My Lord, I hope you aren't upset that I didn't mention the mark previously. I didn't know it was something I should mention-.”

  Rob raised a hand, silencing him. “It's okay, Saif. Really. Just promise me from now on you'll tell me everything I need to know.”

  “I promise, my Lord,” Saif said, sounding not entirely certain of the request.

  “I mean no secrets, Saif. None.”

  The Sage blinked. “Yes, I understand. No secrets.”

  Rob still didn't entirely trust him, but saw little choice other than to accept that the Sage meant it. Besides, if he needed to, Rob could always put a sword to his neck again. Then he'd learn of any secrets.

  “Okay,” Rob said. “Consider me back in business. So what's next?”

  Visibly relaxing, Saif dragged the chair over, after closing the door to the creeping damp, and sat down. He leaned forward, his face anxious.

  “My Lord, after yo
u killed Perrin did you by chance level up?”

  “No, I didn't. Why?”

  “Humor me, my Lord. How close are you?”

  Curious himself, Rob pulled up his character stats.

  Robert Barron, Level 3 – 25% to next level

  Kingdom Level 1

  Hit Points: 100/100, Mana Points: 20

  Energy: 100/100, Speed: 10

  Armor: 4

  Strength: 12

  Constitution: 12

  Intellect: 10

  Perception: 10

  Dexterity: 10

  Luck: 10

  Hit Bonus: 1%

  Critical Hit: 1%

  Critical Damage: 1%

  Known Skills:

  Basic Swordsmanship: 16%

  Basic Tracking: 1%

  Basic Defense: 13%

  Dodge: 3%

  Basic Shield: 12%

  Block: 14%

  Basic Combat Attunement: 10%

  Shield Bash: 8%

  Rob noticed the three new stats. “Oh, hey. I forgot, I have some Advanced Stats now.”

  “Please disregard those for the moment. They'll be important later. What's your experience points percentage at?”

  “It says I'm 25 percent toward level four. Why?”

  “Ah, that's good, actually. Do you have a mana pool, now?”

  Rob's eyes widened. “Hell, yeah! 20 mana. Does that mean I can cast spells?” Excitement flushed through his chest. Magic!

  “It means you have the ability to cast spells, yes. But as for the spells themselves, you will have to find them first. I'm relieved you have access to your mana, as I suspected Perrin's existence had stifled your magical ability. His destruction has negated that.”

  “Do you know any spells? Can you teach me?”

  The Sage shook his head. “It doesn't work like that, my Lord. Many people are naturally gifted a spell or two once they reach their sixteenth year of age. After that, they have to acquire scrolls or special tomes to learn more. Usually.”

  “What scrolls do we have?”

  “None, sire,” Saif waved at the trunk. “You didn't find any on your adventures, as of yet. But you will.”

  Rob felt a tremendous sense of disappointment. He wanted to cast a spell, damnit! “So you were born with a spell?”

  “I guess you could look at it that way. Yes, I was born with two actually, Light and a minor Healing spell. Generally those are the main two that people get.”

  “Healing. Jace used that before on me and himself. So everyone can heal each other all the time?”

  “Not entirely, sire. The spell itself requires 15 mana to cast. Most people have 20 mana, so they can only cast it once. After that, they must wait for their mana to regenerate on their own, or drink a restore mana potion.”

  “How long does mana take to regenerate?”

  “Too long, my Lord, just like hit points. You will find it quite frustrating trying to cast two spells, one after the other, with such a small mana pool.”

  “I need a bigger mana pool, then.”

  “Exactly, my Lord, which is why I asked what your level was. Please consider placing all your attribute points into Intelligence once you hit level four.”

  “Intelligence boosts my mana points?”

  “No, but it will help you learn the spells from scrolls. The higher your Intelligence, the better chance you have of memorizing the script on a spell scroll for later use.”

  Rob was feeling deflated. “Okay, how do I get more mana though?”

  “By chance have you learned a skill called Magical Affinity?”

  Rob knew he hadn't but checked, anyway. “Nope. Not yet. Where can I get that?”

  “It should present itself the moment you memorize your first scroll. Perhaps it's best to save any skill points you have to place into it. As you increase the percentage, your mana pool will grow. There are other factors that can affect its size, but we'll talk about those later.”

  Seeing Rob's frustration, Saif reached forward and patted his hand. “My Lord, I bring this up now, because until you learn magic, you are at a serious disadvantage in this world – our world. Nearly every person has the simplest magical capacity. You will need to grow yours and learn to cast stronger spells or I'm afraid your progression will be severely hampered.”

  Rob felt his headache getting worse. “This is a lot to take in, but I think I follow. What about those shards I got from killing Perrin?”

  The Sage waved a hand. “Please don't get annoyed when I say we'll save that for another time. Shards and shard magic is a separate complex magic system that does involve spells. But I don't want to overburden you right now. Just know we'll get to that later.”

  Rob could tell Saif was being forthright with him and decided not to press for more information. He'd wait on learning the magical aspects of the world until he found his first spell scroll.

  “Okay, Saif. What else?”

  Relieved, Saif smiled and sat up. “There is something I can show you which can be considered magical and is something everyone can do. Jace mentioned you acquired some potions.”

  “Yeah, I got a bunch.” Rob reached into one of his Bags of Holding and pulled out a Major Potion of Healing.

  Saif took it and placed it on the bed. “Let's say you're hurt, but not enough to justify using the full potion.”

  “I should sip it?”

  “No, once you start to drink a potion, you consume its full contents whether you want to or not. But there is a trick to creating smaller potions from this Major one. Simply tap its stopper four times and see.”

  Rob tapped the stopper of the potion four times with his finger.

  Suddenly, the potion vanished, and four smaller ones appeared, all in an instant.

  Laughing, Rob picked one up.

  You have taken an item: Minor Potion of Healing

  Restores 25% of Hit Points over 15 seconds. Cannot be stacked.

  Value: 3 Silver Pieces.

  “Okay, that's cool. Does it work the other way?”

  “Yes, tap two potions against each other, gently.”

  Rob did, and a Medium Potion of Healing appeared.

  You have taken an item: Medium Potion of Healing

  Restores 70% of Hit Points over 40 seconds. Cannot be stacked.

  Value: 7 Silver Pieces.

  He did the same with the other two Minor ones creating another Medium Potion. Then he clinked the Mediums together, creating the Major Potion again.

  Saif smiled. “Good. This works for all healing and mana potions. It can be helpful in a fight if you need to bring your health or mana up without wasting an entire potion. So it's good to prepare them beforehand, my Lord.”

  Rob considered it, and tapped the potion's stopper four times, then he stashed the four Minor Potions in one of his bags. Finished, he looked expectantly at Saif.

  The Sage's smile faltered a little, and said, “My Lord, I understand you have chosen a name for our kingdom, correct?”

  “Yes, Anika.”

  “Anika?” Saif said, considering the word. “Sounds foreign. Are you certain that is the name you wish?”

  “Yes, of course,” Rob said, feeling defense. If he couldn't be with his daughter, then she'd be with him as his Kingdom's name. And to hell with anyone who didn't like it.

  Certain that Rob wouldn't change his mind, Saif said, “Very well. You should have access to the Kingdom Options. Within those, should be a selection to officially name the kingdom.”

  “Where are the Kingdom Options?” Rob said and suddenly a selection screen appeared within his vision.

  Damn, he'd never get use to having these words thrown at him. He peered at what was presented.

  Kingdom Options:

  View Kingdom Reputation

  View Kingdom Diplomacy

  Name Kingdom

  “There are Reputation and Diplomacy options, too,” Rob said, intrigued.

  “They'll be blank, my Lord. You can ignore them.”

  “Why
?”

  “Because you haven't encountered any other Kingdoms to earn a reputation with, or engage with in diplomacy.”

  Sounds logical enough, Rob thought as he selected Name Kingdom.

  What name do you wish to give your Kingdom?

  “Anika,” Rob said.