Eden's Gate: The Arena: A LitRPG Adventure

by Edward Brody

  Ozzy was lying flat on the ground, unmoving.

  Seeing no other giant snakes, I rushed as fast as I could toward the serpent.

  “Arrows, Jeremy! I’m out of arrows!” Jax yelled.

  “He’s down! Run to him!” I shouted as I slammed my sword into the serpent’s side. Blood splattered into my face.

  The serpent swung its tail and knocked Keysia to the side, and I felt a thump of fear in my heart as I worried for her safety. I yanked my sword out, and climbed on top of the serpent again, driving the top of my blade into its back as many times as I possibly could.

  An energy consumed me, and under my status bars, I could see that Adeelee had cast Nature’s Regrowth, which was healing me slowly.

  Out of the corner of my eye, Donovan stumbled forward, blood dripping from his back and arms. He slammed both of his swords into the serpent’s scales, and for a moment he held on to both of them before falling sideways and to the ground.

  Vines rose from the ground and wrapped around the lower half of the serpent’s body as my Boiling Blood started wearing off. I marched forward and continued slamming my sword down each step of the way as I moved closer and closer to its head.

  Lighting shot out from Keysia’s hand, causing the serpent to rattle from the shock, and as it froze there, an arrow flew across the cave and landed directly in the serpent’s eye. The serpent’s rattler shook weakly, and its head thumped as it flopped onto the floor of the cave.

  I turned to see Jax kneeling beside Rina, and Jeremy was lying on the ground.

  I marched forward across the massive serpent’s body with my sword held high, ready to strike a killing blow.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  2/2/0001

  Adeelee raised another set of thorns that wrapped around the upper half of the serpent’s body, but I could still feel it squirming below my feet as I walked across it and onto its head. I raised my sword and pointed the tip down, prepared to pierce into the serpent’s brain when Keysia called out.

  “Gunnar…”

  I looked over to her to see her still on the ground, but her palm was raised to me.

  “Don’t kill her. Not yet.”

  “What?” I asked.

  Keysia closed her eyes and lowered her hand towards the snake’s head, and when she spoke again, the structure of her voice changed. It was if she were reading something. “Please. Please, don’t kill me.”

  “What?” I asked again, unsure what was going on.

  Keysia opened her eyes. “She’s asking for us to spare her. She wants to live.” Keysia closed her eyes again, and once more, her voice shifted. “Why do you enter my home? Why do you seek to harm me when I have done nothing to you?”

  I was confused, but I lowered my sword. “What is this?” I asked Keysia.

  “I have children to protect, to raise. Please, tell me your cause.” Keysia opened her eyes and swallowed. “Gunnar…”

  “You know our cause, Keysia,” I said. “We need the serpent’s venom. That’s why we came here.”

  Keysia closed her eyes, and her mouth moved, but she didn’t speak at first. Eventually she said, “I will give you my venom if you’re benevolent enough to let me live.”

  You’ve received a quest offer: A Serpent’s Plea

  Shashana asks for you to spare her life.

  Reward: Unknown, Shashana’s Venom, 4,000 XP

  Do you accept this quest?

  Accept/Decline

  “Keysia…” I muttered, worried she might be getting controlled somehow. I knew about deceptive quests already, and what better creature to hand out a deceptive quest than a snake.

  Keysia opened her eyes. “She wants to live, Gunnar. We don’t have to kill her.”

  I turned my head and saw Donovan lying on the ground, Ozzy flat and unmoving, and Rina working on Jeremy. Adeelee’s eyes were wide, asphyxiated on the interaction Keysia and I were having, but she didn’t say a word.

  “Are you under some sort of spell, Keysia?” I asked.

  Keysia shook her head. “No. I can hear her.”

  I raised an eyebrow. I didn’t understand why Keysia could hear the snake, but I suppose I couldn’t rule it out since I could speak to Sora. I would have to question her further about it later. “Okay then. What do you think we should do?”

  Keysia paused, and her eyes darted to the side. She stared at the ground for a moment before turning her eyes back to me. “Let her live, Gunnar. We should let her live.”

  I still felt confused about what was happening, but I gave a slight nod. “So long as she gives us her venom, we’ll let her live.” I trusted Keysia, and so long as she wasn’t under some sort of spell, I was confident that she wouldn’t steer us wrong. I sheathed my sword, and jumped off the massive, reptilian body.

  You have accepted the quest: A Serpent’s Plea!

  Adeelee’s vines snaked away, and she took a step back, still wide-eyed.

  Keysia stood up, fetched a healing potion from her pack, and popped the cork. She walked up to the serpent and was about to pour the potion’s contents down its throat.

  “Are you sure about this?” I asked again, knowing that we wouldn’t survive another battle with the beast.

  Keysia shook her head. “No, but I can trust her if you can.”

  I sighed, shrugged my shoulders, and put my hand back on the hilt of my sword, just in case.

  Keysia grabbed the arrow that was lodged in the creature’s eye and yanked it out, which caused it to shake and rattle its rattler erratically. She then poured the healing potion into its mouth. After a few moments, it perked back up, and slithered across the room and to the far wall where it turned on itself and started licking its wounds and yanking the arrows from its body with its mouth.

  You have completed the quest: A Serpent’s Plea!

  You have gained 4000 XP!

  When I turned to Rina, she was bandaging Jeremy, who seemed weak and distraught.

  “Oh man,” Jeremy moaned. “That poison was terrible,” he said. “I only had like 1% of my health left. I thought I was dead.”

  “Donovan and Ozzy are dead,” Rina said as she tied off a bandage. “I tried my best to keep them both healed, but the poison in Ozzy killed him too fast, and I just couldn’t heal Donovan in time.”

  “It’s okay,” I said. “You did your best. As long as you can resurrect them, we’ll all be fine”

  “Of course,” Rina said. “Just give me time.”

  You have been poisoned and require medical attention. Poison is a weakening and damage-over-time effect.

  You are bleeding and require medical attention. Bleeding is a damage-over-time effect.

  I flinched, and glanced at my status bars, realizing that I was closing in on 10% health. I reached into my bag and pulled out a cure potion, and as I was pouring it down my throat, I felt a soft hand grab on to my leg. When I looked down, Adeelee was bandaging me. Her face was blank, and her lips were in a hard line. She was being especially quiet for some reason.

  Rina resurrected Donovan as Adeelee cast her healing spell on all of us to quickly bring us to full health. When Donovan sprung back to life, his eyes were wide, and he was breathing heavily.

  “I live…” Donovan said. “I’m alive.”

  “You are,” I confirmed.

  “Now that I know death, I never want to experience that again!” he exclaimed.

  After a round of meditation, Rina resurrected Ozzy as well. He was happy to be back, and less shocked than Donovan, but he immediately started ranting about the poison.

  “Dude,” Ozzy said. “That’s not normal poison.” He huffed as he spoke. “I even drank a cure potion, but it didn’t work.” He turned to see the snake across the room, licking its wounds, and he started to scoot rapidly across the ground.

  I had to do some explaining to those who hadn’t witnessed what transcribed between Shashana and Keysia, but after everyone was fully healed and up and walking, we approached the serpent while it was still busy working o
n its body.

  “Your venom…” I said as we approached.

  Keysia briefly closed her eyes and then opened them. “She asks where you will store it.”

  I turned to Jax who handed me an empty vial, and I held it out in my hand. “Here,” I said as I popped the cork.

  Shashana lowered her head slowly and opened her mouth, exposing her long, sharp fangs. She aligned her fangs until the end of one of them dipped into the empty vial, and over the course of several seconds, liquid poured out of the tip and filled the vial with a yellowish, milky liquid.

  You’ve received: Shashana’s Venom. Durability: 10/10. Quality: Average. Rarity: Legendary. Weight: 0.1 kg. An extremely potent poison from a great serpent.

  I smiled once I had the venom, happy that I had accomplished part of the mission.

  Keysia closed her eyes and began speaking again. “Thank you for letting me live, dark elf. You are gentle and can understand me, unlike others. Please, accept one of my brood as a gift to you. I trust you to give him or her a life beyond these cave walls.”

  The snake turned, and I noticed a thick pile of dark grass behind her. When she turned back around, she opened her mouth to reveal a football-sized white egg that was resting on her tongue.

  “You’re giving this to me?” Keysia asked.

  The serpent nodded, and Keysia gently grabbed the egg. Once it was in her hands, she rocked her head back and closed her eyes again.

  “You,” Keysia said and pointed a finger towards me. “You are the leader of this group?”

  I nodded.

  “You have proven yourself to be a powerful, capable, and compassionate leader. Return to me when you’ve grown strong enough, and I will honor you with my service.”

  I didn’t know what to say to Shashana, so I just gave a nod. It was strange communicating with a thirty-foot serpent who was speaking through a dark elf, after all. But I appreciated her offer, whatever it meant. I knew that I’d return and take her up on her offer—one day.

  Keysia’s eyes opened, and she grinned at me before looking down at the egg in her hands, smiling at it as it were a child. Again, it all seemed so strange, and I had no idea how to respond.

  “How do you speak with the serpent?” I asked.

  “Oh,” Keysia said. “It’s a skill called Beast Lore. It allows you to correspond and bond with different creatures.” Keysia shook her and glanced back at Shashana. “Normally, I wouldn’t be able to communicate with a creature of this level, but her cries were so loud. It was like I couldn’t help but hear them.”

  “Can you teach me Beast Lore sometime?”

  Keysia smiled and nodded. “Of course, Gunnar.”

  When I turned to check on the rest of the guild, I saw Jax cutting open the one of the giant snakes that we had killed and pulling out a large, green sack from its body. He held the sack over an empty vial and squeezed, allowing the liquid inside to fall out. He repeated the process, removed and milked the sacks of another five.

  You have completed all requirements for the quest: Shashana’s Gift! Return the spoils to the King Rutherford to collect your reward.

  Keysia thanked Shashana for the gift, I thanked Shashana for sharing her venom, and then we all headed to what was in the next and final chamber in the cave.

  When we arrived in the last chamber, it was much like second chamber we had entered, but we were surprised when there were another five aggressive, giant snakes inside. We had no choice but to fight them as they attacked immediately, but no one sustained any major injuries during the fight.

  You have gained 1000 XP!

  Jeremy scratched his head as he scanned the room. “Damn, you know what? I think this was the room I followed Percy into. Did I say he went right before? Maybe I should’ve said left.” He scurried over to the final path and peeked his head inside. “Yep, the exit is right out there.”

  “So we went all the way down into that tomb for nothing?” Ozzy fumed.

  Jeremy lowered his head, kicked his foot, and put his hands behind his lower back. “Sorry, guys…”

  “Not for nothing,” Jax said. “Remember that we found the Vorporite room, and a few decent items as well.”

  “And what’s this?” Adeelee asked as she leaned over a sword that was lying loosely on the ground. She lifted it in front of her face and inspected its black and gold hilt and long, silvery blade that looked thick in the center but tapered off sharply on each side.

  “Hey,” Jeremy said. “That looks like the sword that guy was using.”

  Adeelee smiled and turned to me. “I suppose the leader of the hunt should be privy to the prize.” She tossed the sword towards me, and I caught it by the hilt.

  You’ve received: Heritage Sword. 30-61 Attack Damage. Requires 25 Strength. Requires 25 Dexterity. Durability: 6/10. Quality: Average. Rarity: Rare. Weight: 2.9 kg

  “Oh wow,” I said before reading off its stats. It was a substantial upgrade from the sword I was using.

  “Gonna turn it over to the King?” Jeremy asked.

  I smirked. “Not unless he makes me. I think he’s getting enough from us already.” I held the sword towards the exit path. “I guess I’ll find out what he has to say soon enough.”

  There were no other incidents the rest of the way through the cave, and we left with our heads held high. The guards were still watching our horses, and Sora, Tsarra, and Fenris all came running when they saw us emerge.

  We seemed to have completed the mission—the mini raid—and proven that with organized teamwork, we could take down enemies that were many levels higher than us. We suffered a few casualties along the way, but everyone stuck to the plan, so the casualties were only temporary.

  I was proud of my guild, proud of Adeelee, and proud of Donovan. Everyone had exceeded my expectations.

  And now I had the serpent’s venom to deliver to Highcastle. Jeremy would be pardoned, and maybe I could convince the King to take action against Dryden Bloodletter.

  At least I hoped.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  2/2/0001

  “Thank you Adeelee,” I said as soon as we reached the border of Edgewood forest. I turned to the rest of our group. “Thank you, Donovan. Thank you everyone.”

  “It was an honor to fight beside you again, Gunnar,” Donovan said, and his eyes wandered over to Adeeleee. “And an honor to fight alongside the Princess of the Vale.”

  Adeelee’s jaw tensed, and she only looked at Donovan out of the corner of her eyes. “I should head home. I didn’t tell anyone I’d be gone for so long. Will you be visiting the Vale again soon, ambassador?”

  “Umm…” I shrugged and smiled. “Yeah, I guess I’ll check in over there soon. I have a rune, after all.”

  “Great,” Adeelee said and winked an eye. “Perhaps we can go hunt some Psy Demons and share an elven pie?”

  I smiled harder and nodded. I knew that I needed to stay focused on the guild, focus on building up Edgewood, but Adeelee had a draw that I found hard to escape.

  I watched as she rode away on Tsarra with her two guards, and when I turned back to the others, Donovan was looking away, and Keysia was no longer smiling.

  A knot formed in my throat. I had been growing so much closer to Keysia lately, but I couldn’t deny my feelings for Adeelee. The two elves were both so different from each other, but I adored them both. It was the first time in my life that I could ever remember having to choose between two beautiful women and feeling like I had a shot with either one of them, depending on how I played my cards.

  And the tension between Donovan and Adeelee had been palpable. I needed to find out what the history was between the two of them, whenever the time was right.

  “Thanks again, everyone,” I said. “I’m going to head to Highcastle to see the King now. I’d like to be back before it gets dark. Jeremy, I assume you’ll be coming along?”

  Jeremy nodded and joined me on the back of Sora, and we started off with our special delivery.

  “You actual
ly came back,” one of the guards at the front door of the castle said. “I thought for sure you’d make a run for it.”

  “We need to see the King,” I said.

  He snorted. “We’ve already been through the rules with you once. You can’t just come and see the King at will.”

  “The King sent us on a quest to retrieve something,” I continued. “We’re here to give it to him.”

  The guard snickered and turned to the guard on the other side of the door. “You expect we’re going to let accused murderers in to ‘give the King something’?”

  “I was cleared of any crimes.” I lifted my thumb towards Jeremy. “And he’s about to be too. The King’s life depends on what we’re going to give him, so if you don’t let us in, I suspect the King is going to ‘give you something’ and it rhymes with ‘ass beating’.”

  “Rhymes with ass beating?” the guard asked. It looked like he was thinking for a second—perhaps trying to think of something that actually rhymed with an ass beating—but then he turned to the other guard, smirked, and puffed up his chest. “Oh, I get it…”

  The other guard gave him a nervous glance. “Why don’t you just go check to see if the King is expecting him?”

  The guard nodded, opened the door, and slipped inside.

  A few minutes later, the entrance swung open, and we were being escorted inside the castle. The Princess and the King were both walking to their thrones as we strolled in, and the King was being wheeled out by Windsor.