The man who had first fallen to the ground with Bolverk’s kick had leapt to his feet, and he jumped at me with his longsword over his head. I rolled out of the way as I used Minor Heal on myself. My body glowed orange, and the crossbow bolt popped out of my forearm as the man’s heavy blade smashed into the ground.
I kicked out with my left foot at the mercenary’s shin and hooked my right boot around his knee. My movement collapsed his left leg, but as he fell, he raked his longsword across the ground in my direction. I brought my own blade across my body, and our blades came together near the guards with a loud clang.
My left hand was free, and I reached up to cross-grab the fur of the man’s armored collar. A quick tug pulled him further off balance, and he fell onto the ground next to me.
On top of the blade of my sword.
I yanked my weapon out from under the man, and he let out a shocked scream. I had a firm hold on his collar still, and I brought the pommel of my sword down to smash into the back of his skull. The blow should have killed the man, but as my fist descended, he glowed a teal color. The glow had orange shields dancing across the surface, and my hammered attack bounced off his skull as if I’d tried to put the beat down on a slab of concrete.
It was Guardian of Fortune, and I didn’t need to look down the street to know that the woman with the crossbow had used the protection ability.
“Fuck you,” I growled as I smashed the pommel of my broadsword into the man’s skull again. This attack also bounced off the protection enchantment, as did my third, but the man couldn’t escape the tight grab I had on his armor, and my fourth blow turned his skull into something that resembled a smashed in watermelon.
I hit myself with Guardian of Fortune as soon as the first enchantment faded and half a moment before the woman shot me again with her crossbow. The bolt hit me in the right shoulder, and my protection magic didn’t catch it. I spun around as if someone had yanked an invisible rope that was attached to my sword, and my spine cracked half a dozen times.
Bolverk jumped over me and swung his too-large axe at the last male mercenary that was still standing. The black garbed man was too slow to block my friend’s wild strike, but a glow of Guardian of Fortune highlighted his body, and my friend’s axe attack bounced off the chain armor without doing any damage.
“The woman with the crossbow is healing them!” I shouted as I reached up to the bolt sticking through my left shoulder. My fingers closed around the feathery end of the quarrel, but I noticed that the other end had a wicked looking barbed tip. I was going to have to yank it out by pulling on the other side.
My left arm still hurt from the first bolt, and my right shoulder felt as if it was on fire. I’d felt worse pain, but it was getting hard to breathe, and I didn’t honestly want to know if my body could handle another crossbow bolt. I didn’t want to use Breath of Life on myself because of the ten-minute delay, but I doubted I’d be able to do much more in this fight if I didn’t get the bolt out of my shoulder. My body started to glow with the effects of the enchantment, and I glanced back to see how Bolverk was doing.
The gnome was frantically swinging his large axe at the last man. The woman was aiming her crossbow at my friend, and I hit him with a Guardian of Fortune as her weapon’s string sang out. Her bolt went high and parted the gnome’s dyed mohawk. Bolverk didn’t even seem to notice her attack.
I set my left foot against the cobblestone of the street and pushed with my legs. I kind of misjudged my strength, and I shot to my feet with a sudden surge of speed. The woman with the crossbow fixed her eyes on me, and she took a step back as I yanked my short sword out of its sheath with my left hand and charged her.
I sprinted past Bolverk as the tattooed gnome slipped under his opponent’s sword swing. My friend took his left hand off of his axe haft, punched the much taller man in the groin, and then flung the blade of his weapon upward with his right arm in some sort of crazy weird golf swing looking attack. The black armored mercenary had bent over when he got punched in the groin, and his face was at the perfect angle to receive Bolverk’s axe blade.
I hit myself with Guardian of Fortune again, but this woman was either incredibly lucky, or her weapon was somehow ignoring the effects of my enchantment. Her bolt slammed into my stomach like a kick from a mule, and my torso was yanked backward while my legs continued to sprint toward her. I was suddenly looking up at the alien planet in the sky, and every part of my body was screaming with agony.
Okay, now this was the worst pain I’d ever experienced, and my mind screamed with confusion for two seconds before I reminded myself that I was a healer and I had used Minor Heal half a dozen times on Cesnie the other day.
I hit myself with Minor Heal three times, and the bolt buried in my stomach came out as if my abdominal muscles were pushing against it. The bolt in my shoulder also began to slide out of my back with a thankful release. My chest felt a bit of mana fatigue, but the rest of the pain in my body fled. I was able to reach my left hand around behind my right shoulder to yank the bolt out the rest of the way.
There was another twang from the woman’s crossbow, and I rolled across the ground in an attempt to dodge the bolt, but the missile still hit me. Fortunately, Guardian of Fortune protected me from this one, and the quarrel bounced off my twisting body as if it was a nerf foam bolt.
I sprung to my feet and turned to see where Bolverk was situated. The muscular gnome was sprinting toward the crossbow woman, and it looked as if she was turning to run. The berserker was incredibly fast though, and he sprinted the fifty feet as if he was an axe wielding cheetah.
“Wait! Don’t kill her!” I screamed at Bolverk as the gnome leapt into the air. His body bent back like a pulled bow while he flew over the street, but then his axe came forward to cut the woman in half. An explosion of blood sprayed across the walls of the alley where her body fell, and I couldn’t help but wince at my friend’s brutal attack.
“You going to watch? Or you want to fight?” I said as I turned to the veiled woman that stood across the street from me. She had brown eyes above the piece of cloth, and I could make out a scatter of freckles across the bridge of her nose.
We stared at each other for a few moments, and then I took a step in her direction. She instantly vanished, but I spun to block the stab that she no doubt aimed at my unprotected back.
But she wasn’t standing there. Instead, she was on top of the roof of the woman’s clothing store that I’d sent Allurie into. The woman raised her hand to wave at me, and then she turned to walk away.
“I will hunt her down and rip the soul from her screaming corpse.” I hadn’t noticed Bolverk next to me, but the little man looked like he’d taken a shower in blood.
“Don’t worry about it,” I said as I looked at the surrounding street. This probably wasn’t good. Yeah, we were attacked, again, but I didn’t want to stick around and talk to the city guard, they might decide to keep us all day, or maybe until tomorrow. I didn’t want to risk losing the match. We would need to get back to the palace quickly.
“Allurie!” I yelled as I opened the door to the shop.
“Yes, Leo!” The silver-haired elf was peering over the top of a doorway that I guessed was the changing room stall.
“We have to go!”
“But I haven’t tried on--”
“Now! Just put all of them in the bag, give her the money, and run out front,” I shouted.
“Should I change back into my--”
“No! Hurry!”
“Okay, Leo,” she sighed and then her head disappeared below the door. A second later she was running out of the changing room in the same yellow dress that we had seen in the front display.
“You have to pay for--” a store clerk yelled, but Allurie already had a platinum in her hand, and she tossed it to the woman as she ran.
“Thank you for letting me in your lovely store! I’ll come back!” Allurie yelled over her shoulder as we exited the door.
“Do you like my
dress?” she asked as we stepped into the street.
“Yeah, can you loot them? Quickly. Put all their coin pouches, jewelry, and weapons in the bag. Make sure the blades are sheathed.” I was looking at the far end of the street, and it seemed as if there was some commotion as people began to poke their heads out of alleyways and stores.
“Okay, Leo. I will do it. You never looked at the stuff from the last group of men that attack--”
“Hurry!” I shouted as I saw the crowds part.
There was a shitload of guards running our direction.
“My axes hunger for the blood of all who challenge us,” Bolverk muttered. The man had grabbed the axes and belt from the man he cut the leg off, and my friend wore the leather strap across his chest like mini Rambo. He carried each of the smaller axes in his hand, and the larger axe was somehow now attached to his back.
“No time, and we don’t want to go to jail. I think we’ll be safe if we can get to the palace.” I turned to look back in the direction of the corpses and saw Allurie putting the crossbow from the woman Bolverk had killed into the Medium Bag of Holding. The sight of it was a bit weird since the mouth of the pouch seemed to stretch over the sides of the missile weapon to swallow it like some sort of animal.
“That is everything, Leo!” The turquoise-eyed elf waved back at me.
“We should stay and fight these men. They should all know what happens when mortals challenge the--”
“No, let’s go,” I told Bolverk as I glanced back at the guards. We had about a hundred yards on them, and they were all wearing heavy looking chain armor. I didn’t think it would be hard to run away.
Fortunately, the crazy gnome berserker nodded at my words, and the three of us sprinted through the chaotic city and back into the palace gates before the city guards could apprehend us.
Chapter 20
“We need to tell Sharles that Yrisi is trying to kill you,” Chrysa said after I had updated her on what happened in the city streets.
“No,” I said as I looked around the table where my friends sat. “We have to ignore it.”
“No? But why? She hired mercenaries to kill you,” the beautiful, noblewoman said with a huff.
“Yeah, but this started because I agreed to betray Rodin for a bunch of money that Cesnie gave me. Imagine if Sharles brings this story to the council. It makes me look dishonorable, and it might reflect poorly on you,” I said with a shrug. “Besides, we lived through it and got all their loot. Allurie even got some new dresses.” I smiled at the beautiful elf. My friend had been a bit downcast since we made it into the palace, and I guessed she was upset that I’d pulled her from the store. “Will you try them on for us?”
“You want to see them? I picked out three. I don’t know if they will all fit, but I would love to show them to you!” Allurie fluttered her silver eyelashes.
“Sure. Can you put all the weapons, jewelry, and other loot on the table here so I can look at them while you change?” I said.
“Yep! Here!” Allurie reached into the Medium Bag of Holding and pulled out the two crossbows with their quivers of bolts, the bandolier of daggers, two daggers with thigh sheaths, a broadsword the woman carried, the saber that the other man wore, the longsword the leader wielded, four rings, two bracelets, and a blood covered amulet. It was a shitload of loot, and I had to chuckle at how quickly Allurie had been able to gather it all.
“There were also three rings, a bracelet, and a necklace you asked me to take from the group who attacked us when we left the ship,” Allurie said as she pulled the items out of a separate pouch that was inside of the Medium Bag of Holding and set them on the table.
“I forgot about those, thank you. I hope none of this blood got on your dress, I said as I touched the amulet. Then I realized it wasn’t real blood. The item had a strange magical glow that dripped from it as if it was bleeding.
Amulet of the New Vampire
Armor Rating - 2
Durability - Magical
Br+2
Qu--
In--
Wi--
Pe--
Ch+2
Co--
Lu--
Every time wearer deals melee damage, wearer gains 5% of their health back. Only 100% of health (20 hits) can be healed every five minutes.
“This is great! Which of the group had this amulet on?” I asked Allurie. It was a blue item, and I was a little surprised that it wasn’t actually purple colored. The vampire effect seemed very powerful, but then again, it was only 5% per hit and had a five-minute cooldown. This would definitely take some pressure off a healer.
“The man who carried that sword,” she said as she pointed to the longsword on the table.
“What does it do, friend Leo?” Cornalic asked. The man had seemed sleepy when I first got back, but he perked up when I told him about the people who attacked us on the street. He looked wide awake now that there was new loot on the table.
“It gives health back when you attack. Do you wan--”
“No, dearest friend. I believe the item would be best assigned to you or Bolverk. I plan on not getting hit, and I am outfitted with many magical items at the moment. I believe you only have a few, and our new friend doesn’t have any.”
“Here, Bolverk,” I said as I handed the man the amulet. I kind of wanted to wear it, but if I was going to be healing and the gnome was going to be tanking, it would only make sense that he wear it.
“The gods smile upon me. I will use this to drain the life from our enemies, then we will feast upon their souls and enjoy their endless agony,” the gnome said as he slipped the amulet around his neck.
“Can I show you the dresses now?” Allurie asked.
“Sure,” I said.
“I will help you put them on,” Chrysa said as she stood from the table. The two women walked out of the room, and I reached for the longsword on the table.
Longsword of Chilling Edge
Damage: 20% above standard - longsword
Durability - Magical
Br+2
Qu+2
In--
Wi--
Pe--
Ch--
Co--
Lu--
Opponents hit with the Longsword of Chilling Edge have a 20% chance of being chilled. While chilled, they move 25% slower and take 10% extra damage.
Wielder of the Longsword of Chilling Edge has a Light Resistance to cold and fire elements.
“I believe you are the only one suited to carry that weapon, friend Leo,” Cornalic said after I read them both the description of the blue text weapon.
“Yeah. I’ll just need to figure out where to put it. It’s a large weapon. I’ve always liked these big swords though.” I said as I pulled the longsword from its sheath to look at the blade. I could see little snowflake designs etched in the blade by the guard, and the grip was quite comfortable.
“What next?” I asked the men, and Cornalic pointed to the broadsword that the woman with the crossbow had worn.
Broadsword of Light Luck
Damage: 10% above standard - broadsword
Durability - Magical
Br--
Qu--
In--
Wi--
Pe--
Ch--
Co--
Lu+2
“It’s lucky, but not that powerful,” I said.
“But still magical?” the half-orc asked.
“Yeah.”
“Allurie wishes to adventure with us, perhaps we can make a set of equipment from the items here?” Cornalic nodded at the sword. “Unless you need to replace your broadsword.”
“No, mine is good because it helps with mana fatigue. You make a good point though, let’s check the saber next,” I said as I set aside the broadsword and grasped the slightly curved blade.
Saber of the Ancient Tortoise
Damage: 20% above standard - saber sword
Durability - Magical
Br--
Qu--<
br />
In+2
Wi+2
Pe+2
Ch--
Co--
Lu+2
Wielder of the Saber of the Ancient Tortoise health points are increased by 25% and their armor rating is increased by 14. Wielder also has a 35% chance to resist Illusion or Charm abilities. Wielder requires a quarter of the usual food and water to survive. Wielder has these bonuses as long as the Saber of the Ancient Tortoise is worn.
“Wow. This would be great for her,” I said to Cornalic as I studied the purple text of the item. “It adds armor and life to whoever holds it. They are also resistant to some magical attacks and need less food and water.”
“Fantastic! Allurie will be pleased.
“Let me look at this short sword next,” I said as I picked up the weapon. I needed one to replace the green text one I had broken on Bolverk when we first wrestled.
Short Sword of Balance
Damage: 10% above standard - short sword
Durability- Magical
Br+1
Qu+1
In--
Wi--
Pe--
Ch--
Co--
Lu--
Wielder is harder to knock down and is resistant to minor snare effects.
“I’m guessing you don’t need this?” I asked Cornalic, and the half-orc shook his head. “How about you?” I asked Bolverk, but the man shook his head and pointed at the longer thigh daggers. Those were practically like short swords to the man.
I moved the short sword off the table and set it next to the longsword. I was probably going to have to take off my old short sword and just use this magic one. I was starting to have too many blades tied to me, and while that wasn’t a problem in most VR videogames, Ohlavar Quest was real enough to make it feel awkward when I moved around with too many things hanging from my belt.
Lion's Quest: Trinity: A LitRPG Saga Page 29
