Skull and Thrones: A LitRPG/GameLit Adventure

by Eric Ugland

  There was no indication of what'd happened to Careena. In part it looked like she might have just left on her own, which I hoped was the case. There was no blood, no burnt body, no signs of struggle. So it could be that the destruction on the first floor had been fueled by rage at missing out on her.

  But then I found a note.

  "Look in the Shadows"

  Well, obviously that was for me. But maybe the people who ransacked Careena's house had seen that, and looked in the shadows for something, not realizing there was a different set of shadows to look for.

  I cast shadowstep and slipped into the other realm.

  On the wall opposite the window, there was another message for me, one devoid of any trickery. Just an obvious note from Careena. I knew it was for me because it began with her pet name for me.

  “You dumb son of a troll. You did this to me. I can't say I blame you because I was your teacher, and I did not do the job I said I would. Obviously. I have my doubts you will even read this; it's likely you’re dead. Necromancy is not well liked by many outside our profession, understood by even fewer within it. You would do well to rid yourself of those spells, you witless knob. But, if you are alive, and are reading this, you should leave Glaton. You have some skill with magic, and your ability to hold and cast such large spells at such a low level is impressive. If you focus on magic, you might truly be a force in your later levels. But I have failed you as a mentor, and thus I have failed to repay the favor to Matthew. Therefore, if you are alive, and you aren't leaving Glaton, which you should, then look for a person named The Faden. They will be able to guide you better than I did. I am leaving to the north — do not try to follow, you would not be welcome where I am going. To the east would be your best bet. Good luck. Get smarter.”

  "What a warm and gracious woman to have as a mentor,” I said to the wall. I shook my head as I popped out of the shadow realm. I righted a chair that still had three legs and sat down, staring out into the glum weather.

  To start things off, I could no longer depend on Careena to be a part of the guild. There was no way that could happen. Even if I did know where she was going, I’d have to catch up to her and get her back to Glaton, and there wasn’t enough time left for something like that.

  But on the other hand, Careena made some interesting points. I could consider leaving. It didn't necessarily make a ton of sense to stay in Glaton. I had no real loyalty to the place. Plus I had some skill, so I could likely survive in the wilds. Or hop on a caravan. Maybe even go north. See that Emerald Sea place. Or I could go to Carchedon, and get that blood debt thing fulfilled. See about living a life there.

  Although, that meant dealing with slavery.

  So Carchedon was out. But this was a big world — I remembered my flyover at the beginning, seeing an entire planet filled with landmasses and oceans. There had to be other great places to visit, other countries I could live in. I kind of liked my life in Glaton, but it couldn't possibly be the best place for me to live.

  And if I did have so much skill with magic, and I did want to pursue it, obviously Glaton wasn't a great place to live considering its people thought magic was horrific. Which then begged the second question: did I want to bother with magic? It was certainly cool. But I’d come into this world thinking I was going to be a thief. Granted, when I had come to that conclusion, I'd been thinking I was just playing a game. Just making a character of sorts. And now I was in this world, living this life. As a thief, more or less.

  Not that engaging in magic would make it impossible for me to remain a sneaky steal-y sort. But if magic here was like magic in all the various games and books I'd read in the Old World, then I would need to put a lot more of my focus on learning and practicing the arcane arts. And then what?

  There were so many questions and just no answers. And no way to get answers. I couldn’t think of anyone to turn to who had real knowledge of the world outside the Empire. Maybe there were elf-havens. Cities built into trees. Maybe there were beautiful islands, and I could live the pirate life.

  And yet, I'd started a life here. I had friends, people who cared for me. And they felt like a sort of family. When I considered leaving them, well, it felt wrong. I didn't want to leave. I was starting to learn the city, and I thought, maybe, I might be able to make a legitimate difference in the Empire. Maybe I could even make the Empire a better place. Maybe I could make it the best place.

  I looked out the window. It was still pouring down rain. The wall that locked in the undead of the Shade was massive and imposing. I couldn't imagine waking up to that depressing view day after day. Said something about Careena.

  I wasn't going to leave. Not yet, at least. There was still the guild. I still had a chance to make that happen, and if I could, then I’d be a part of something. A part of something that I could guide and control.

  I stood up, feeling a renewed sense of purpose. My guild could make Glaton a better place. To root out corruption and to kick some of the assholes off their high horses. I wasn't going to be a nice guy about it either. I had a lot of nasty little tricks up my sleeve now, and I wouldn’t be shy about using them.

  “Time to be a bad guy,” I said to no one in particular.

  Saying it out loud made me feel cheesy about the whole thing. It wasn't exactly badass to say I'm a bad guy. Whatever. I had too much to do to stand around thinking about how to sound badass.

  Chapter Fourteen

  I pulled my hood up over my head as I left Careena’s apartment, making sure my ears were covered. I thought about finding a barber, that maybe my hair was getting a bit unkempt, but as I ran my hand through my hair, I realized that I was freshly born. Or reborn. So my hair was about as close to perfect as it could be. My face was smooth too, with nary a hair on it. Except, you know, eyebrows. So it was straight to the bank.

  As I walked, I was sure someone was following me. I just couldn’t shake the feeling. It must have had something to do with seeing Careena’s shop and home torn apart. So even though I had zero evidence, I still stopped at every single large window I came across, just so I could get a good look at who was behind me as I made my way along the avenue towards the Golden Square. Which was actually a rectangle.

  The bank in question was The Crimson Trust. The building was massive, with a large staircase leading to a huge door, flanked by soaring columns on either side. Armed figures stood out front, doing a very good job at looking menacing. They had big weapons and a whole lot of attitude. They glared at me as I walked up the stairs. I imagined what they saw, and I didn’t blame them for glaring. I was pretty bedraggled. I had on basic gear again — I had a number of bonus sets in my closet — and not a lot else.

  Once inside, I left a wet pathway on the marble floor of the building. And because it was that sort of a place, a nice-looking young man got straight to work drying my drippings as I dripped them.

  "Help you?" a young woman asked, stepping in front of me.

  "Hopefully," I said.

  "If you are here for alms, you'll have to go around—“

  "Not today, thanks. I have an account here."

  "Oh? Please step over here."

  She directed me to a carpeted area on the side of the lobby, where there was a bit more privacy.

  "Number?" she asked.

  I told her the number, and then the passphrase.

  "A moment, sir," she said, pulling a small journal from a pocket in her dress. She wrote the number down, and the passphrase. She repeated them back to me, and I confirmed she’d gotten them right.

  Then we stood there. Her journal out. Me dripping on the carpet.

  "The weather is unpleasant," she said, eyeing me.

  "Yeah," I said. "Must be nice to have a job indoors."

  “There are some benefits, yes." She smiled. She had a nice smile. Her brown hair framed a face that still had plenty of babyfat on it, despite the woman's obvious maturity. She was probably well into her twenties, but still had big ol' cheeks. And big brown eyes. �
�You work outside?”

  I nodded, wondering what I should tell her. Pit worker just didn’t seem like it would—

  “Are you a guard?” She asked.

  “No,” I replied. “I, uh, sometimes I am a pit worker.”

  “Oh,” she said. I don’t think she meant to, but she took a step away from me. “That is a hard job — at least I’ve heard.”

  “There are moments where it’s, uh, a bit of a challenge, yes.”

  Something caught her attention on the journal, and an eyebrow raised. Then she realized what she was doing, and, reassuming her business-like demeanor, she nodded at me.

  “Your account has been verified. How might we help you today?”

  “I’m buying a building,” I said, “and it is my first time doing something like this. So do I, I mean, I imagine it’s probably a lot of coinage.”

  "It could be, yes. I don't know which building you are buying, nor the price, but if it is a smaller amount, you could convert the coinage into platinum. Or there are higher denomination coins, but I would have to look into our stock."

  "There are higher denomination coins?"

  "Yes, though understand they are rarely seen outside the realm of real estate. More often you'll see people using letters of credit."

  "That's probably what I need. How do I get one of those?"

  "You simply ask, and we write one out for you."

  "And they can come here and get gold?"

  "Yes. Or they may set up an account here with the credit."

  "Is there, I mean, let's say I was going on a trip. Is there another branch of this bank somewhere?"

  "Of course. We have branches all over the Empire, and in several other countries."

  “Oh that’s cool. What other countries?"

  "Did no one tell you this when you opened the account?"

  "Uh, no."

  She frowned, but shrugged. “Well, there's obviously Mahrduhm and Carchedon. One in Kalmar, the Skaar Protectorate, Walbecken, The Kingdom of Two, The United Seven, and even one in Chimor."

  "Do you think you've got branches in every country?"

  "No," she said with a smile. "Not sure that's possible. We are one of the larger banks, but the world is impossibly vast.”

  I was so curious, and I really wanted to ask her more. And yet, it didn't seem like a good idea to illuminate my ignorance too much.

  "Is it possible to take a blank letter of credit?" I asked.

  "No," she said, with a slight smile. "The letter is written in code, so we would need to do it here."

  "Got it," I said. "I'll be back in a little while then."

  "Please ask for me," she said. ”Eldora O’Callaghan at your service."

  "Thank you, Eldora," I said. "I will."

  I turned and left without saying my name. I had the feeling she was expecting it, but I didn't want to chance my name not matching what was on the account.

  I walked back through the rain to the tavern, where Titus and Jaclyn were sitting and chatting amicably.

  "I take it things have been worked out?" I asked.

  "A fair price has been set," Titus said, and then he told me the number.

  I smiled and nodded.

  "I'm assuming you don't want that much coinage," I replied. "I can get you a letter of credit. Might be easier to travel with. Easier to hide. I don’t know where you're going, but—“

  "South," she said. "I've got family in Wistenberg. And I'm sure we can find a branch of your bank along the way."

  "One more walk in the rain then," I said. "Be back in, well, a while. Stupid bank isn't close."

  "Apologies for that," she said.

  "Just the way of the world," I said.

  “You need to get a carriage or something," Titus said.

  “We have a carriage. It’s just busted up and made for—“ I stopped talking, realizing that Jaclyn was right there, and I might not want to say that we’d commandeered a slaver’s carriage for our own use. “I thought one of you was supposed to be fixing it up for us. But maybe once I stop buying buildings, we can get some horses. Not like gold grows on trees."

  "I've heard there is a land far to the northeast where that actually is the case," Jaclyn said.

  I started to laugh at her dumb joke, but this was a world of magic, dragons, and trolls. The impossible was merely implausible here. So instead, I just shrugged and smiled.

  "Until I get one of those trees then," I said. "I'll just have to walk."

  Chapter Fifteen

  Back into the rain.

  This rather mundane activity, which absorbed my morning, was an indicator of just one reason life moved at a different pace in Vuldranni. Or at least Glaton. It was harder to get things done because there was no instant communication, and little transportation faster than walking. At least there were paired journals — that made a few things easier to deal with.

  I got back to the bank and requested a letter of credit in the amount Titus had negotiated for. I got smiles from Eldora. Was she making eyes at me? Maybe, but I had no idea how one did the whole flirting thing here. It didn't seem like the lobby of a bank was a good place to learn.

  I didn't go back to Jaclyn right away. I decided the better idea would be to stop in and speak with Matthew, since I probably should have spoken with him before I agreed to purchase the building. Not because I needed his permission, but I did value his opinion. And anyway, if I was going to stay ahead of the Iron Silents, I needed his help.

  I sighed, really getting tired of the weather. And tired of walking. It was so inefficient. Not that I had a car back in the old world, but I had the subway, which is leagues better than a car. I could have hailed a carriage, but I was already soaked and disgusting, so it didn't make much sense. Better to just save that gold in case I needed to buy another damn building.

  I chided myself. I needed to stop complaining — I’d likely end up with even more quests to fulfill. The only reason I was feeling so bad was because of the weather. And the repeated deaths. Dying so often had to be bad for the psyche. I found, however, that killing my killer did make me feel better. Especially because I'd managed to kill my killer twice. Sure, I had a whole hell of a lot more to do before we were anywhere close to equal, but I was on the path towards right and proper revenge. Thinking about that made me feel pretty good.

  Eventually, when my cloak had finally given up and just let all the rain water through, and I was something more akin to a drowned rat than an elf, I got to the pits. After a bit of weaving through wide streets and high walls, I found Matthew's current work locale. I pushed through the gates and walked into the pit-zone. Matthew was standing on the edge of the pit, looking down. To me, at least, that meant Nadya and Godfrey were in the pit.

  "Anything vile and dangerous inside?" I asked.

  Matthew glanced over his shoulder, and gave me a slight smile.

  "Seems like something vile and dangerous just got here," he said.

  "Good nickname."

  "Does't quite roll off the tongue."

  “A work in progress."

  "Coming back to work?"

  “Thinking about it."

  "What is it you really want?"

  "Two things. Well, one thing. And one thing to tell you."

  “Let’s start with what you want to tell me.”

  “I’m buying another building."

  "Why do you have so much gold? Or is that a question you don't want asked?”

  "Biscuit’s Union money," I said. "I'm the last living member, so, well, it's all mine now."

  "Interesting thing, that."

  "Unexpected for sure."

  “So what are your plans?”

  “Partially I’m trying to spend the money before the guild collapses, because I’m not sure what happens to it then.”

  “Seems wise. Where is this new place?”

  “The building next door to the tavern. Uh, you know, the other way from the bakery building.“

  “Do you want to take over the en
tire block?"

  “Maybe, I don’t know— there could be some tactical advantages that way. ”

  “Make your own fortress?”

  “We could. In a fashion.”

  Matthew wiped at the water on his face, and flicked drops off to the side.

  "What's the thing you want from me?" he asked.

  "You want to skip off the building discussion?"

  "I want to know what you want."

  "I want a spy network."

  "A spy network? What country do you want to—“

  "That's not what I'm trying to do,” I said. "I want to know about what's going on in the city. I want to find those Iron Silents asshats and tail them so I know where they're hiding and what they're doing. I want information at my fingertips. More or less.“

  "Not a spy network."

  "You want to have an argument about semantics?"

  "Never."

  "Great, so can you help me set that up?"

  "You want me to run a spy network for you?"

  "I thought I didn’t want a spy network."

  He shrugged.

  "Yes," I said. "And you can call it whatever you want."

  "I'm not in that life anymore.”

  “I hear you saying that, but it just seems like, maybe, you'd be willing to make an exception."

  "Not for you. Or anyone."

  "I feel like there's a but coming."

  “It’s not a but. But, this is a dangerous time we are entering into, and you are a unique individual. I've been thinking quite a bit about you, and how you play into my life. What you might be capable of doing. I wonder if you and I were fated to meet."

  "I did some thinking in that general field as well. It’s been an odd morning."