Realm of the Nine Circles: The Grind: A LitRPG Novel

by P. Joseph Cherubino

  “Martin, get up. We have to—” When the dwarf turned to Martin, he found the Orc laying still on the ground. “Damn it, if you lost Driskroll’s character!” He exclaimed as he put away his axes knelt down.

  The Orc breathed, but barely. Marin moaned. “Damn, pain governors or no, this hurts.”

  Kalmond dragged him to the nearest hut and threw Martin inside. “Out of healing potions,” Kalmond said. “Sorry.” He slammed the door behind him, hoping for the best.

  A blast of light and the bark of splintering wood caught his attention. Arnold fought beside his wife against two antibodies. Kalmond rushed over and lent his axe to the fray.

  “Where did these things come from?” Claudia asked as she lashed out with her flaming chain dart.

  Arnold answered not with words, but with a mighty overhand stroke of his bastard sword that split one of the antibodies into two clean sections. He followed through with a backhand swing on the next monster that was less successful but bought distance for Claudia to score multiple hits, turning the monster into a living torch. Kalmond darted in for the killing strokes.

  “Thank you again, Bear Dwarf,” Claudia said as they all recovered.

  “Don’t thank me,” Kalmond said. “I accidentally brought those things here.”

  “No matter,” Arnold replied. “We have Dundree to save.”

  All they had to do was follow the sounds of screaming where the remaining antibodies had two villagers cornered. Kalmond rushed in with his health depleted but with endurance bar full. He activated an overhand rage swing on the first antibody, whose uncanny swiftness brought its face around even as the axe blade zeroed in on it.

  The blow from cloudsplitter glanced off the side of its skull, taking a chip of white shell with it. The monster countered with a claw that took a gouge from Kalmond’s right pectoral muscle, causing his return swing to come back much weakened and off target.

  A burst of magical energy saved the dwarf from the other claw that reached out for his face. The lightning strike stunned the antibody long enough for Arnold to come in with his bastard sword while Claudia took on two antibodies at once with her flaming chain in one hand and a fireball spell in the other. But that left open the question of who cast lighting.

  The mystery revealed itself when Najeel swept in playing Runecaster’s avatar. He’d changed out the battle robes for an outfit with bright blue lightning bolts embroidered on the breast pleats and armored skirts.

  “Ha!” Najeel screeched in Runecaster’s voice. “Take that!” And he let loose with a dual-cast lightning spell that froze the antibody long enough for Arnold and Kalmond to take it apart with power swings from their heavy blades.

  Najeel turned to help Claudia as the antibody fell. He swapped out his lightning spell for two electrified sabers that he used to beat back the most aggressive antibody from Claudia who, while fighting hard, was losing ground. Kalmond rushed over, but to his great surprise, Najeel finished the beast with a relentless attack that made his blades blur and crackle. All four finished the last antibody with a simultaneous attack while the terrified villagers ran off to points unknown.

  Kalmond stood among the bodies of dead monsters with the hafts of two axes loosely held in his hands. He finally checked the clock. Axe blades resting in the dirt described for him what would happen should he not reach level twenty in the next twelve hours. The main inventory screen hovering before his field of view showed him it was midday in the realm on his last day to reach level twenty and get to the Sixth Circle. To do that, he needed more than 1,800 XP.

  “I don’t think I’m going to make it,” Kalmond said aloud, expressing the thought for the first time as visions of federal agents carting him off to jail darted through his daydreaming mind.

  Chapter 23

  “Twelve hours,” Kalmond muttered to himself, dragging cloudsplitter and the axe of warding through the soil of Dundree.

  The ground was alternately mucky from whatever the antibodies used for blood and dusty with a dry heat that pressed down on the dwarf like an insistent hand. He shuffled off to Molly’s house, not knowing where else to go. He didn’t bother healing himself along the way.

  Chaos in the village seemed far away as villagers and adventurers alike ran panicked. Kalmond guessed everyone was off to do something important, but he just didn’t care. He was simply tired.

  Najeel sidled up to him, followed by Martin. It seemed natural to see them as their avatars now. Runecaster’s tall female form propelled itself along smoothly and Driskroll’s loping gait brought the orc’s shoulder into occasional contact with Kalmond’s.

  “You look like crap,” Martin remarked.

  “Yup,” was all Kalmond could say.

  “What are you doing?” Martin asked. “Where are you going? We don’t have that long.”

  The dwarf shook his head and headed on, pushing through the door to Molly’s house, where he immediately collapsed on the rough-hewn chair at the equally rough little table, dropping his weapons on the dirt floor beside him. Molly was nowhere to be found.

  “What’s the plan?” Martin asked again, this time more insistently.

  Kalmond shrugged. Najeel snapped Runecaster’s fingers. “The potion,” Najeel said. “He’s out of rejuvenation potions. He’s been awake for six-and-a-half days now. The potions were keeping him alert.”

  “Great,” Martin said. “He’s strung out on some kind of virtual drug.”

  “Possibly,” Najeel replied. “But we need to get him more of it. Where do we get more of the potion?” He asked, turning to Kalmond.

  “I have most of the ingredients,” the dwarf replied listlessly. “We could buy some from Alchemist, but the bastards killed him.” Then, an idea struck, providing Kalmond with just a bit more energy. “Driskroll set up a trade route. There should be a big inventory back in Darkwell.”

  “How do I access it?” Najeel asked.

  “You don’t,” Kalmond replied. “I think it’s time you gave up these characters. Trade is a specialty. If you just raid his stores, you’ll screw up the Driskroll’s whole system.”

  Najeel remained silent. Martin shook his head and said, “You want to stay in the Realm, don’t you?”

  “We have work to do here,” Najeel replied. “Also, the world is fascinating.”

  “We’ve done all we can do,” Martin said. “We have bigger fish to fry in the Lesser Realm.” Kalmond sat up in his seat with wide eyes. “What?” Martin asked.”

  “You just called it ‘The Lesser Realm,’” Kalmond replied.

  “Yeah,” Martin replied. “I guess I did. This experience gave me a full buy-in. Virgil knew that would happen.”

  More fog cleared from Kalmond’s mind as talk of some other world spurred memories. “Just a week ago,” Kalmond said, “Virgil said you both needed to come here.”

  “Yes,” Najeel said. “He did. Now I understand why. Human minds are suffering. They are crying out, quite literally, in the pit of despair. Martin, we must go back to find a solution while our young colleague fights the good fight.”

  “You gonna be alright, kid?” Martin asked.

  “I don’t know,” Kalmond said, too tired to drive home the sarcasm. “You tell me. Isn’t my body in a fishtank somewhere in a deep coma?”

  Martin cleared his throat. “We’ll take care of that,” he said.

  “Sure,” Kalmond said with a sigh.

  “Let’s go, Doctor,” Martin said, addressing his colleague formally.

  Najeel gave Kalmond a curt nod, then paused with his eyes focused on the ceiling. A moment later, both he and Martin were gone. As if on queue, the door opened, and Molly stepped through.

  “Bear Dwarf,” the old village leader said. “We have little time.”

  “Tell me about it,” Kalmond said.

  “The globes show bad omens. Forces arise, my vision nears,” Molly said.

  “Yeah, yeah,” Kalmond said through hooded eyes. He just wanted to sleep, but a flashing icon showed a
n incoming message from Driskroll. “What now,” Kalmond said, opening the voice channel.

  “What the hell did you do to my character?” Driskroll demanded angrily. “It has no health, my armor is damaged, and I have no health potions left. I know that ‘technical difficulties’ message I got when I tried to log in was you guys.”

  Absolute fatigue was the truth serum Kalmond was not expecting. “I’m dying in here,” the dwarf said. “It’s not a joke. I’m in an experimental rig and the longer I play, the less likely it is I’ll live. Shit went down. I can’t explain it all, but if I don’t complete this quest, Plexcorp will get raided by the feds and all my friends will go to jail and at least one other person will die.

  “What…” Driskroll said, then went silent. Kalmond sat with the sound of his own breathing while Molly stood in full mage battle robes, her majestically wrinkled face all stern angles and firm resolve. “I won’t ask any questions but one. What do you need?”

  “I’m coming to you,” Kalmond said, casting his eyes to Molly, who understood.

  The Matriarch stepped back a pace and retrieved a portal sphere from her inventory. Holding it in her hand, she spoke arcane words that opened up a doorway of light to Darkwell. Kalmond stepped through.

  The town bustled with adventurers, NPCs and to Kalmond’s surprise, water sprites and dillo. The sprites didn’t travel far from the well, but they engaged all actively. Trades went down, and from the few chat bubbles, Kalmond saw, some sprites even gave quests. None of the adventurers wore the horned icon of Mylos, but Kalmond knew that meant very little. The minions concealed themselves.

  Urtoast came out of nowhere in his shining armor. “Hi Kalmond,” he gushed enthusiastically over voice chat, the youth of his voice contrasting comically with the scarred wizened elven face. “We’ve kept the village safe. The forces of evil are at bay.”

  “Uh huh,” Kalmond said, shuffling towards Driskroll’s shop.

  “Are you OK?” Urtoast asked. “What do you need?”

  “I’m not so good,” Kalmond said. “Just keep doing what you’re doing.” The dwarf paused with a somber thought. “Thank you,” Kalmond said. “Seriously. You don’t know what this means to me. More than you know.”

  Urtoast paused. Without an immersion harness, the adventurer’s feelings remained hard to read. “Thanks,” Urtoast replied. “That means a lot, too. This is more than a game to me.” With that, Urtoast turned back to the village where three other players gathered around him.

  “What did he say to you?” Kalmond overheard a wood elf ask Urtoast.

  “He said we’re doing good,” Urtoast replied. “Let’s do better.”

  “Wow,” Driskroll exclaimed over vox when Kalmond came through the door. “The realism...You truly look like crap.”

  “So I’m told,” Kalmond said. The dwarf rattled off the remaining ingredients needed for his rejuvenation potion and slapped down a hefty amount of circs for the materials. “No discount, then?” Kalmond growled.

  “Hey,” Driskroll replied. “I said I’d help. I didn’t say I’d go broke again doing it.”

  “Got a bench?” Kalmond asked.

  Driskroll left the counter and took Kalmond into the back room where every type of workstation was arranged. “You’ve done very well,” Kalmond said, heading over to the alchemist bench. He quickly mixed up a single rejuvenation potion, earning 20XP, then he downed it. The potion instantly cleared his head, changing his outlook. The world around him seemed new.

  “Wow,” Driskroll exclaimed. “You just...sparkled. You look way different. Your skin was all yellowy before.”

  Kalmond held up a finger, brought up his menu and messaged Najeel privately. “Dr. Boussaid,” Kalmond said. “Are you there?”

  “Yes,” Najeel replied. “I am here, and I notice your vitals are stronger. What is happening?”

  “I was calling to ask you that,” Kalmond said. “I just took a potion.”

  “I see,” Najeel said. “Interesting. We may be able to augment that effect.”

  “No,” Kalmond said. “It’s tempting, but don’t cheat. The Realm will just make it harder in other ways.”

  Najeel paused, and the open space told Kalmond he was considering the claim. “I agree,” Najeel said. Kalmond waited for one of Najeel’s classic unintentionally backhanded compliments, but none came.

  “OK,” Kalmond said. “I’m out, then.” He closed the channel and got back to crafting.

  He’d bought enough material to make three more rejuvenation and two more health potions, and he did so to earn another 80 XP. Checking his stats told him he still had another 1,660 points to get to level twenty. One more quest should do it.

  Gong! Achievement Unlocked: Alchemist, Level 3. All potions last 50% longer.

  “About time,” Kalmond muttered, but he should not have been surprised. The thief class didn’t gather potion skill levels quickly.

  Kalmond headed back to the front of the shop where Driskroll served customers. The dwarf stood in the doorway to the back room and cast a wary eye over the customers until Driskroll was done with them.

  “Are you still dying?” the Orc asked.

  “Probably,” Kalmond said. “The Realm has its hooks in me. I have to see it through with one more quest. Have you seen Rock?”

  “Which one?” Driskroll said. “They all look the same to me.”

  “Nevermind,” Kalmond replied. “How is the trade with Dundree?”

  “Excellent,” Driskroll replied. “I have regular commerce, and my rep is high with the traders there.”

  “While I’m on this quest, I need you to supply the blacksmith down the well with as much ore as you can.” Kalmond opened his inventory and offered Driskroll the rest of his circs, six precious gems, and two crusted gemstones. He held back a large collection of basilisk beaks and feathers.

  “What do you want for all this?” Driskroll asked.

  “The rest of your herb inventory,” Kalmond replied. “And to cover you for buying all the ore from any adventurer that comes through here. Put the word out. You’re buying ore. Send them to the caves in the mountains above town.”

  “What’s this about?” the orc asked.

  “I’m trying to hack the quest a bit. The blacksmith agreed to make weapons if I gave him ore and brought him back some spiven steel ingots, but there is no time. I’m hoping that if you give him ore, he’ll start making weapons anyway. I need you to make that deal for me.”

  “I’ll see what I can do,” Driskroll said. “But this is a bad deal for you.”

  “I’m buying more chances to live,” Kalmond replied. “Seems like a good deal to me.” He paused a moment as a thought bubbled up. “And since when do you care if someone gets the raw end of a deal? You getting soft?”

  “Yeah,” Driskroll said, “since you put it like that, maybe.”

  Before leaving, Kalmond headed to the back room and hit the alchemy bench. Taking a deep breath, he took Boris’ book from his inventory, set it down on the bench and opened it. The dead dwarf appeared wordlessly hovering above the book with thick arms folded across his broad chest, waiting for an answer.

  “I killed most of them,” Kalmond said. “One got away, but the other will probably resurrect and come back. I showed them hell.”

  Kalmond braced for a harsh rebuttal, but Boris nodded his head gravely and said, “You honor the old man with your actions. This is the way of the Realms. How can I help you?”

  Kalmond squirmed a bit. He didn’t quite miss the old Boris, but the change in him was a bit sad. “I need to know what kinds of things can be made with basilisk feathers and beaks.”

  The ghostly face formed wide “O” shapes with mouth and eyes. “Ahhh…” Boris exclaimed. “You simple fool. Don’t you know that the basilisk is possessed of some of the most potent magic in the realms?”

  Kalmond stood there grinning. The old Boris was back.

  “You ask me a question, then sit there dumb as a stump and grinning like
a drunk human ogling a barmaid!”

  “Put up or shut up, dead dwarf,” Kalmond said, thrusting his index finger in Boris’ face. “Show me what you got, then.”

  Boris managed to shove Kalmond out of the way without his ghostly hand passing through. He could only do that when good and worked up, so Kalmond knew he was about to see something special. “Put your ingredients on the bench, dullard!” Boris barked.

  Kalmond emptied all his herbs and basilisk parts into the bench inventory and waited. The bench sparkled, flashed and billowed smoke. Keeping the inventory open, Kalmond watched all the property slots of every herb changing from “unknown” to reveal multiple applications. Using Boris to discover all the herbs didn’t gain him any XP, but it gave him a huge advantage.

  “What’s the most powerful potion I can make with all that?” Kalmond asked.

  Boris ran a translucent palm down his face. “You are the worst student,” he moaned.

  “I’m your student?” Kalmond asked. “Since when?”

  “Nevermind that, dumb pupil!” Boris bellowed. “The answer is the stoneflesh potion, of course! You might also make the stone stun poison or the sorcerer’s mirror potion that lets your enemies see you as anlly. But I suppose a clod like you just wants to know how to take more blows to the head without dying!”

  Kalmond laughed at the tirade and proceeded to craft five stoneflesh potions, four mana potions, and six more rejuvenation potions. For good measure, he crafted two of the sorcerer’s mirror potions, though he had no idea how he might use something like that. Even after making all those potions, he still had many herbs left, but not enough to make anything he was interested in. If he gathered more kindlebloom, he could make at least four more fire potions. As tempting as it was to go on a hunt for herbs, he didn’t have the time.

  “See ya,” Kalmond said, slamming the book closed and returning it to his inventory.

  He left the shop with a spring in his step. The fresh boost from the rejuvenation potion let him see the axe flashing out towards his head. He ducked as it whooshed over his head. Kalmond shot back up to a standing position as he activated the telekinesis spell and used it to push his attacker back.