Accidental Warrior: A LitRPG Accidental Traveler Adventure

by Jamie Davis

  “I suppose they’d find an apartment and maybe seek out work locally as a bouncer or guard for a local merchant,” Garth replied.

  “Who is this friend of yours, Hal?” Tinna asked.

  “She came here earlier in the year, maybe about six months ago.”

  “Ah, a woman then,” Tinna said. “She may not be waiting for you still, Hal. She may have found other companionship.”

  “It’s nothing like that, Tinna,” Hal corrected her. “She is a family friend and I was asked to look in on her and make sure she was alright. Her family hadn’t heard from her in some time and asked me to check up on her, that’s all. I heard she was working with a man named Ginty, Flemming Ginty.”

  “I know that name,” Garth said. “He’s a prominent merchant here in Hyroth. Rumors also place him high in the local thieves’ guild. If he’s involved in your friend’s disappearance, you’d better be careful.”

  “Do you know where I can find this merchant thief?”

  “I’d try the Central Trader’s Hall,” Garth replied. “That’s where all the merchants congregate, trading their wares as well as information. I suppose you could hang out outside the hall and talk to him when he comes or goes.”

  “Then that’s what I’ll do first thing tomorrow morning,” Hal said. “Tonight, though, let’s celebrate a successful journey and enjoy ourselves before we all separate to go our own ways.”

  The following morning came a little earlier than Hal wanted after his late night with Garth and Tinna the night before. By the end of the evening, Tina and Garth had paired off leaving Hal to find his way to his room alone.

  Hal was glad his friends could have some fun together after their long journey. Hal woke up shortly before dawn on the pallet bed in his tiny room. He left and headed down the stairs to find t

  he innkeeper’s wife up already. She was bustling around, cleaning up from the previous evening’s revelry.

  “You’re up early,” the woman said. “Care for some breakfast?”

  “That would be nice,” Hal replied. “I don’t suppose you know how close the Central Trader’s Hall is to here?”

  “It’s not too far, about a fifteen-minute walk across the central bridge towards the merchant’s district.”

  “Thank you, I have some business to attend to there this morning.”

  “I’ll have your breakfast out for you in a minute or two. Settle down here at this table. I just wiped it down and I’ll fetch some good caff. It’s a drink from the far east we’ve just started serving. It helps wake you up.”

  Hal wondered if it was coffee. He hadn’t had any coffee since he left home. He’d just assumed it didn’t exist in Fantasma.”

  The woman brought him a steaming pewter tankard of dark liquid. One sniff and Hal smiled. It had a very familiar aroma to it.

  “I don’t suppose you have any cream I could add to this?” Hal asked.

  “Why would you do that? Everyone just drinks theirs plain.”

  “Never mind, this will do,” Hal said. He leaned over and savored the aroma of what smelled like very good coffee indeed.

  He ate the hearty breakfast of ham and eggs the innkeeper’s wife brought out. When he had finished, he left her a few silver pieces to pay for the meal and the caff.

  He hefted his pack and his peace-bonded weapons and left in search of the Central Trader’s Hall.

  It wasn’t hard to locate his objective. Everyone knew the Central Trader’s Hall it seemed. Several citizens helped direct him along his way and soon he was located outside a large, stone building with tall fluted columns flanking the broad double front doors. For the early hour, there was already a fair amount of activity flowing in and out of the hall.

  Hal walked up the broad steps to the front door and was stopped at the front doors by uniformed guards.

  “What’s your business in the Trader’s Hall warrior?” the senior guard asked.

  “I seek Flemming Ginty. I have a message for him from the west. I just arrived on a caravan last night. This is the first chance I’ve had to look him up.”

  “You can leave your message with me,” the guard said holding out his hand. “I’ll see he gets it.”

  “I’m sorry,” Hal said. “The message is for his ears alone. I must speak to him in person.”

  The guard didn’t like the answer. It was likely he’d hoped to receive a tip or reward for delivering an important message, taking the money that might be due to Hal. He pondered Hal’s request for a moment longer then jerked his head inside.

  “The Ginty faction’s desk is inside to the right. They can pass your message along to Mr. Ginty. Don’t be too long or make me come looking for you.”

  “Much obliged,” Hal said. “I’ll make sure to tell Mr. Ginty about your help.”

  Hal passed by the guards and entered the building. The entry hall was huge, the ceiling, stretching upward inside the broad double doors, was twenty feet above him and supported by buttressed arches. Hal looked to his right and saw a series of tables with scribes and clerks set up around them.

  He inquired with a few before he found the right one. It was the busiest of the group. Hal had to wait his turn to speak to the head clerk at the table.

  “I have come from Tandon to the west. I have an urgent message for Mr. Ginty I must deliver in person.”

  The clerk seemed a little shocked at Hal’s words and looked from side to side as if worried who might have overheard him.

  “Please, keep your voice down. Not everyone here in the Empire likes those who deal in trade to the rebel cities to the west. Come with me,” the clerk said, rising from his seat.

  Another waiting clerk slid into place to take over the man’s duties while Hal followed him down the line of tables to a door in the far wall. The clerk opened the door and gestured inside.

  “Wait in here while I fetch my master. He will no doubt wish to hear your message immediately.”

  Hal stepped inside and saw a small room with a pair of plush chairs upholstered in red velvet. There was a table between the chairs. It looked like a place where merchants could conduct business in private without others overhearing. It would be a perfect place to talk with Ginty about Kay’s disappearance.

  A few minutes later, the door opened and a rotund man dressed in purple robes trimmed with gold and fur entered the room.

  “Mr. Ginty, I presume?” Hal said, offering a small bow.

  “You’re the man from Tandon?” The merchant asked.

  “Yes, I’m Hal Dix. I was sent by Duke Korran to deliver a message and to inquire about a friend you had contact with who’s gone missing.”

  The merchant clapped his hands and Hal stopped talking as a servant came in and Ginty whispered something to him. The servant left and Ginty returned his attention to Hal.

  “I sent him after some refreshments for us. I find it is always better to conduct business with some wine, even at this early hour. Now this missing friend, I assume you refer to the woman known as Kay?”

  “You know where she is?” Hal asked.

  Ginty shrugged. “She was in contact with me until a few months ago. I lost contact with her suddenly and do not know where she could be. Who is she to you?”

  “She and I were associates back in Tandon. I became concerned by her disappearance and…” Hal paused when the door opened and a servant entered with a tray and two silver goblets. He waited for the servant to leave before continuing.

  “As I was saying, I became concerned when I learned the Duke had lost contact with her and decided to come and locate her myself.”

  Ginty handed Hal one fo the goblets and took the other for himself.

  “Wait,” Ginty said pointing at Hal. “Hal Dix, I know that name. You helped Kay overthrow the Wardens in Tandon, didn’t you. I believe the people of the city had a name for you.”

  Hal sipped at the wine. He frowned at the bitter aftertaste but didn’t want to be rude. He nodded and smiled at the question.

  “That was
me. They started calling me the Hood,” Hal bragged.

  “I’m surprised you came this far east, Mr. Dix. There is quite a price on your head. The Emperor has put up over a thousand gold crowns for the man who can deliver you to one of his Wardens.”

  “Well,” Hal said. “I don’t have to worry about that with you, do I?” He took another sip of the bitter wine.

  Ginty laughed. “There was a price on Kay’s head, too, though hers was more related to who she was in her past life as a princess. It was an added bonus, to those of us that cared about such things, that her capture might also lure you out of hiding after you disappeared so suddenly two years ago.”

  Hal frowned at the strange comment and started to rise from his chair. He found he was having trouble moving his legs, though. He set his goblet down but missed the table and the wine and cup tumbled to the floor. Hal stared at the goblet spinning on the floor amidst the puddle of red wine, his vision starting to blacken around the edges.

  The wine, Hal thought. It must have been drugged.

  Idiot!

  Hal would have slapped himself in the forehead for falling for this trick if he could. Instead he felt himself lean forward and fall from the chair to the carpeted floor. He found himself staring up at Flemming Ginty’s smiling face as the merchant leaned over him.

  “The other Wardens told me this would never work. You’d never be so foolish to come looking for your companion in person. Now I not only get to collect the reward money from the Emperor but I also will pick up a large bonus on the side bets I made with my fellow merchants. You won’t care about that, however, Mr. Dix. You will likely not survive the next twenty-four hours. The arena is a hard place for the inexperienced or incapacitated. Goodbye Mr. Dix. It’s been a pleasure to meet you.”

  Hal struggled a final time to get up, to roll over, to do anything but he couldn’t move and the darkness closed in until all he heard was Ginty’s laughter.

  13

  It took a while before Hal realized the roaring he heard wasn’t coming from his ears. He groaned and tried to get up. It was no good. He was only just starting to wake up from his drugged stupor and struggled to open his eyes. The roaring sounded again and this time something pounded on the ground nearby.

  Hal forced his eyes open and realized he was lying sideways on sandy ground. He looked around from where he lay and realized the roaring he heard were the cheers of thousands of people in the crowded stands all around him.

  “Hal get up, I can’t hold off the beast too much longer on my own.”

  He knew that voice. It was Kay. He’d found her.

  Pressing his hands against the sandy floor of the stadium they were in, Hal forced himself up to his knees and looked up to see an enormous brown bull charging right at him, pounding across the sand with its horns lowered to skewer him on the metal tipped points.

  At the last minute, the bull was distracted by a waving cloak that swirled in front of Hal for a moment before it whipped away with a flourish to pull the bull’s gaze in a different direction. The beast pounded past Hal, missing him only by inches.

  “Get your ass up, Hal,” Kay yelled. “I don’t think I can get him to miss you again.”

  Hal struggled to his feet. His head throbbed from the drugged wine but he took in the situation despite the pain. He and Kay were in the center of a large, circular stone arena two hundred feet across. There were ten foot walls all around that led up to the stands filled with screaming and cheering onlookers. Hal couldn’t tell if they were cheering for the bull or for he and Kay.

  “Here, take this, I have a sword.”

  Kay thrust a spear in his direction and Hal took the long-bladed weapon. The eight-foot shaft was nearly as thick as his wrist and the steel blade at the end was nearly a foot long with a long cross bar below the blade where it was socketed onto the thick wooden shaft.

  How was he supposed to throw this thing?

  Then he realized. It wasn’t to throw. He was supposed to stand still and skewer the bull with the thing. As understanding struck him, the familiar slot machine started spinning in his head again. His luck was in play. It was time to see if he could make it work in his favor.

  He searched around and found the bull. It was circling around the arena and stopped about fifty feet away, digging at the sandy ground with one hoof. It snorted a bellow and fixed Hal with its red-rimmed eyes.

  Then it charged.

  Hal didn’t have much time to think. He had this spear for a reason. It must be the sort of weapon that could kill this sort of beast. He just had to figure it out.

  “Get behind me Kay,” Hal shouted. “Get ready to use that sword if the bull gets past me.”

  “You aren’t going to stand against it, are you? You have to avoid it and hit it from the side, Hal.”

  “Trust me, Kay. I have a plan,” Hal shouted. The bull had reached full speed and it wasn’t likely to miss him again.

  Hal jammed the butt of the spear into the sand and stomped a foot down on top of it to try and anchor it in place. He lowered the spear to angle it towards the charging bull just in time to have the blade enter the creature’s chest.

  The blade sunk up to the crossbar and stopped there, then the shaft shook as the weight of the charging bull shuddered up the length of the wood. Hal heard that familiar chime of success as he was driven backward by the impact on the spear, the butt of the shaft digging a furrow in the sandy ground beneath his foot.

  Blood poured from the bull’s mouth amidst pink, frothy bubbles. The blade must have pierced the creature’s lungs. The stout spear shaft held as it finally found more solid purchase deeper in the sandy soil.

  The bull’s forward momentum stopped. It sank to its knees, trying to reach Hal with its horns one last time before it fell over in the sand, dead.

  400 experience points awarded.

  Level Up!

  There was a moment’s silence, then the crowd erupted with a roar of cheering and shouting that filled the arena with sound. Hal stood and looked behind him. Kay stood there breathing hard, a smile appearing across her face as she realized they’d survived.

  Hal had found Kay.

  Name: Hal Dix

  Class: Warrior

  Level: 4

  Attributes:

  Brawn: 20 — +6

  Wisdom: 8

  Luck: 24 — +8

  Speed: 14 — +3

  Looks: 8

  Health: 94/94

  Skills: Shield Bash - 1, One-Handed Combat - 2

  Weapon proficiencies: Long Sword - 2, Crossbow - 1

  Warrior Experience: 1,300/2,400 to reach next level.

  Rogue Experience: 146,100/250,000

  Attribute points: 2

  Skill points: 1

  Weapon proficiency: 1 (next achieved at level 8)

  14

  As the crowd continued to cheer for the spectacle in the arena around Hal and Kay, gates opened at one side of the arena’s wall and eight heavily armored guards rushed in. The leading guard pointed at Hal and Kay and then at the open doorway.

  “Come on, Hal,” Kay said, starting towards the open gates. “Time to receive our reward for surviving this test.”

  “What? Where are we?” Hal asked.

  “Keep walking. They don’t like it when we take too long basking in the crowds’ acclamation.” Kay shook her head. “Lord, Hal, you have a way of being both amazing and stupid at the same time. You’re in Hyroth’s grand coliseum, the arena where the citizens come to watch people and beasts fight to the death.”

  Hal tried to take it all in: the cheering crowd, the words from his friend. He was still partially under the influence of whatever drug Flemming Ginty had given him and his mind felt foggy. Hal trudged along after Kay until they entered the tunnel on the other side of the gates.

  “So, we’re gladiators? Is this where you’ve been for the last several months, fighting in this arena?”

  “This is where I’ve been, Hal. I found out too late that my contact with
Duke Korran was one of the city’s Wardens for the Emperor. He managed to capture me and sentenced me to fight here until I died under the one of the tests, as they call these little contests for their sport.”

  Kay led Hal down the tunnel under the stands until it entered a larger open area. It wasn’t completely open. There were bars at every opening and armed guards everywhere. Kay walked up to one of the guards and handed over her sword and weighted red cloak then gestured to Hal to follow her.

  The guard stopped them with a word.

  “Stop. Where’s the spear? You were sent out with a sword, the cloak and a hunting spear.”

  “I left it stuck in that enormous bull out there. Should I go out and get it?” Hal asked.

  With lightning speed, the guard snapped out with a wooden baton to strike Hal on the side of the head. The blow made Hal’s already throbbing head swim and nearly knocked him down.

  Health damage: Health -6

  “Don’t leave the arena without your weapons, gladiator,” the guard said. “The next time you do that, you’ll not receive your next ration of food. Understand?”

  “Yes,” Hal said. “I understand.”

  “Now, go and join your friend. There’s food for you in the mess hall as a reward for winning the test today.”

  The guard pointed to Kay where she waited for him. Hal followed her along a long curving corridor under the stadium above. Eventually they came to a opening to a larger room with a series of tables and benches. Other men and women sat at the tables eating. White-clad servants brought them platters of food.

  “So, we’re gladiators? Like out of the movies?”

  “What are you talking about, Hal?” Kay asked. “I swear, you need to get a grip on yourself. This isn’t the sort of place where your weirdness is an asset. If you don’t fit in, you’ll stand out. People who stand out in here get chosen for more tests. Eventually, you’ll run up against a test that will kill you. It’s just a matter of time.”