Eloria's Beginning: A LitRPG/GameLit Epic (Enter The louVRe Book 1)

by Tom Hansen

  He found he was able to target Xanovi through the new party interface. It was a fun new feature that would make it easier to heal. He turned around, targeting Xanovi through the new interface and tossing down a Mending Force.

  It worked!

  Xanovi laughed. “Yeah, the party window’s pretty slick eh?”

  Scarhoof targeted the boar and cast Tendrils, and instantly its portrait turned red. After just half a second, the tendrils broke apart and the pet whirled on him, tearing across the dirt and leaping at Scarhoof.

  “What the hell did you do?” Xanovi screamed as Widget latched on to Scarhoof’s thigh. The bite took off 20% of his heath and he started bleeding!

  Pain shot through Scarhoof’s leg as he tried to step back, as if that would detach this rabid boar from his leg.

  “Widget, down!” Xanovi yelled. The boar let go of Scarhoof’s leg and backed away slowly.

  Scarhoof stood there, stunned. “I’m sorry. I was just testing out a new spell I had, I didn’t know he would go feral.”

  Xanovi, who just a moment ago looked furious, snorted. “It’s fine, man. Easy mistake. Just be careful. He’s a right bastard, nearly took your entire leg off.”

  Scarhoof looked down at the gash in his thigh. Strangely, the bite didn’t hurt as much as it probably should have. He healed himself once with Mending Force then again to rid himself of the bleeding effect.

  “My apologies again, I did not know that my actions would have caused such a violent effect. I will be careful from now on.”

  Xanovi gave him a curious look again, making Scarhoof start to wonder if he had mud on his horn or something.

  “I truly am reticent for my actions.”

  “I get it, you’re sorry. Why do you talk like that? This isn’t an RP server, is it?”

  Scarhoof wasn’t quite sure what Xanovi was talking about. They both stood there, giving each other oddly similar looks.

  Finally, Xanovi laughed, and clapped Scarhoof on the shoulder. “Look, man. Whatever you want is fine. Let’s just go kill this Nagos piece of shit, ok?”

  Scarhoof nodded in agreement, though he wondered where Xanovi had lived. He had such odd language patterns. Perhaps things on the Plains were different than he remembered.

  Both were silent as they finished the trek to the Kobold’s cave.

  Scarhoof scrutinized the cave entrance, and worried that there were no guards stationed outside.

  In hushed tones, he asked Xanovi, who shook his head. “There weren’t any here last time either. One sec.”

  Xanovi cast a spell, in a language that was vastly different from the one Scarhoof knew for his Shaman spells. An aura surrounded the Beastmaster, emanating an odd and foreign magic. Xanovi looked around the area carefully, scrutinizing different sections of land before moving on to the next. He dropped the spell. “Nothing.”

  “Nothing?”

  Xanovi shrugged. “I guess we go in?”

  Chapter 14

  “Are you sure?” Scarhoof asked as they huddled behind a familiar rock. Something didn’t feel right but he couldn’t put a finger on it.

  Xanovi pointed to his boar companion. “He’ll tank, I’ll DPS and you can heal. Throw some attacks in if your mana is good?”

  Scarhoof eyed the boar, remembering that the animal nearly killed him. The thing barely came up his knees. He didn’t think the pet would be able to handle tanking but what other option did they have?

  “Okay, let me move his bar around though.” He quickly rearranged the health bars for the party, putting Widget on top as the tank and his last as the healer. He noticed some icons indicating each role appear as he rearranged his interface.

  Xanovi waited patiently for Scarhoof to get things setup and then the two headed straight for the entrance. Scarhoof wiped his sweaty palms on his skirt.

  Just inside the cave, the air felt a little heavier and there was a distinct odor in the cave that Scarhoof hadn’t noticed before, singed animal hair along with ozone. It wrinkled his nose and made him feel uneasy.

  Xanovi continued to walk in, seeming unconcerned with the lack of Kobolds. “Come on.”

  Scarhoof strode quickly through the cave to catch up.

  When they got to the large central room, it was completely empty which added to the uneasy feeling in his stomach. Where were all the Kobolds? They couldn’t have left for their raid yet. There were too many of them to go unnoticed.

  Smoke continued to trickle out of the pool in the center, filling the room with a pleasant, herbal smell.

  Scarhoof inhaled deeply, enjoying the aroma.

  Xanovi gave him a curious look but then a noise in the distance made them crouch down behind a stalagmite.

  Two voices were arguing.

  Scarhoof couldn’t understand either, but he tapped Xanovi on the shoulder, indicating him to lean in so he could whisper.

  “That’s the Nagos and the King. I don’t know what they are saying, but they seem to be arguing.” He pointed to the pool. “When I was here last, I put in the poultice—”

  Xanovi cut him off. “Yeah, poultice, smoke, I know. We’re in the same phase man.”

  Scarhoof wasn’t sure what a phase was but he got the gist. He decided to move on to what he thought would be the best tactic.

  “The smoke seemed to placate most of the Kobolds it touched, so there is a good chance that we won’t have many feral Kobolds to deal with. I say we head up to the dais and just take out the two head guys. We can fall back here to the smoke room if we need to.”

  Xanovi smiled, broad and knowing. “I like your tactics, man. Smart to use the room as an escape, but we might need to alternate if we’re going to keep him engaged.”

  Scarhoof nodded. They could take turns recharging if needed. It was a good plan.

  “Let’s go.”

  They crept around the side of the room and then realized there was no point in being too stealthy.

  They took the stairs in the back of the cave slowly. Once they stood on top of the dais, Xanovi turned to Scarhoof with his finger over his lips. He gave his boar a command and the animal scurried off to check around the corner. Xanovi seemed to be in a trance, his eyes shut and humming quietly.

  The boar came back around the corner and Xanovi opened his eyes. “There are the two of them, plus four guards. This isn’t going to be easy.”

  Scarhoof looked around the cave, trying to see if there was anything they could use to their advantage. Running down into the smoke would help, but it was doubtful the enemies would follow them, knowing that if they did they would lose whatever ferocity the shardwater buff had given them.

  Then, Scarhoof had an idea. There were a couple of tables, covered in bowls and spoons. He grabbed two of the bowls and ran to fill them from the pool. He returned and handed one to Xanovi. “Throw it on one of the guards and we should be able to take out two of them.”

  Xanovi handed the bowl back to Scarhoof then pointed to opposite sides of the doorway. “I can probably take one out before he gets here if I blow all my cooldowns. That should leave us five to fight. I won’t be able to use the water. Can you do that? We’ll focus down the trash first, then work on the king. Nagos last, okay?”

  They took up their positions, and Xanovi counted down on his fingers. Then he mumbled under his breath and drew his bow, notching a glowing arrow. He unleashed the spell and followed it up with a rapid-fire barrage of silvery arrows, stepping back with each shot.

  “Incoming!”

  Xanovi dove to the side as a mass of Kobolds came rushing out of the room. First out of the door was two guards, followed by the king, then another guard.

  Scarhoof, only able to aim with the one bowl, splashed it on the face of the first Kobold, who stood in stunned silence blinking his eyes. Xanovi used the opportunity to pull a dagger from his belt and slice into the Kobolds neck, dropping him.

  “It just confuses them, but that’s good enough!”

  The second Kobold guard was larger. His white ey
es glowed and he gripped a sturdy club. He charged. Xanovi tried to dodge but was a second too late. He was hit in the shoulder.

  Xanovi’s health bar dropped and Scarhoof realized it was his cue. He cast Mending Force twice, healing Xanovi to full.

  “Widget, help!”

  The boar jumped into the fray, biting and snapping its jaws while swinging its meaty head back and forth, gouging the legs of the enemy.

  The larger guard turned its attention from Xanovi to swing at Widget. Behind them, the King watched with a sinister growl. He eyed Scarhoof and recognition spread across his face.

  Scarhoof took that opportunity to cast tendrils on The King. The tendrils appeared out of the ground, grabbing onto the king’s ankles, then instantly disintegrated around him, disappearing in a puff of dust.

  He cast it again, to no avail.

  The king’s broad mouth smiled, and he yelled something at his guards, pointing at Scarhoof.

  Scarhoof focused on the health bars, tossing a heal to Widget. Xanovi dodged in, stabbing at the second guard until he fell. The king chanted, a ball of red-hot air beginning to form between his hands.

  Scarhoof didn’t recognize the spell but didn’t want to see what it could do.

  He cast Spirit Shock at the king, taking away about 1% of the boss’s health. This was going to take a while.

  The Nagos was nowhere to be seen. Scarhoof worked his way around the group of Kobolds to peek around the corner. Just inside the cave doorway, he caught the sight of glinting blue. Was the Nagos hiding from the fight or just biding his time?

  Widget, despite being an animal, seemed to do a fantastic job of holding the attention of the mobs. Every few seconds, the king would shout something, and one of the guards would turn towards Scarhoof, who stood out of harm’s way. Within a second, Widget would swipe the guard, taking off a chunk of its health and claiming its attention yet again.

  Xanovi did his part, whittling down the health of the smallest guard until it died, leaving them with just the large guard and the King.

  The king pulled a flask out and drank half of the milky concoction, then tossed the rest to the guard, who did the same.

  Both grew in size. Xanovi glanced at Scarhoof with a worried expression on his face.

  Scarhoof nodded. “My mana is doing good, I’ll help with the damage. Guard first?”

  Xanovi nodded and Scarhoof began alternating Mending Force on Widget and Spirit Shock on the large guard, who had grown nearly as tall as a Tau’raj.

  Scarhoof’s mana descended rapidly. He worried he wouldn’t have enough. “Xanovi, pull back! Make them follow you.”

  Xanovi shot Scarhoof an irate glance but nodded in compliance and whistled to pull Widget further from the doorway. Scarhoof cast Tendrils on the guard and stopped casting Spirit Shock on him.

  “Finish him off, I need to replenish my mana.”

  Scarhoof tossed two more heals on Widget, refreshed the Tendrils on the guard, and stopped casting.

  His mana was down to 10% and ticked up by 1 mana per second. He waited, watching Widget’s health tick down with each swing of the king’s spiked club.

  85%.

  55%.

  Tendrils ran out.

  25%.

  From the side Xanovi screamed. “He’s free!”

  Out of the corner of his eye, Scarhoof saw Xanovi dodge a blow from the guard. Finally, Scarhoof’s mana reached 40% and he cast two Mending Forces on Widget, then cast Tendrils on the guard, who still swung at Xanovi.

  “Sorry, was almost out of mana.”

  Scarhoof gave Xanovi a glance, trying to wear his best ‘I’m sorry’ glance. “It’s something I’ve been wanting to try but I haven’t had the chance to be out of mana this much until today. I’m sorry if it made you nervous. I was watching Widget’s health very carefully.”

  They shared a long look before Xanovi smiled broadly. He took a couple more steps back and continued to load arrow after arrow into the guard. “You are a clever bastard, aren’t you?”

  Scarhoof shrugged. “It was the only way.” He pulled the bo out from behind him and stepped up to the king. The large Kobold swung at the partially damaged Widget. Scarhoof only got in two hits with his bo before having to stop and heal again.

  They repeated the pattern. Tendrils on the guard, heal Widget, swing bo at the king while mana recovered. It was a comfortable groove, and Scarhoof found he enjoyed being in the fray a bit, swinging his bo despite the lackluster damage it dealt. He wished he had more attacks than just this, or at least ones that didn’t require mana.

  With a grunt, the guard fell over, clutching his stomach. The king was down to 30% health. He stamped his feet, cracking the stone beneath him and let out a furious roar, shouting something in a guttural language. It shook Scarhoof to his core.

  In the doorway, the Nagos appeared with a roar. It was the same one that made him drink the shardwater, with the red and gold scale armor and razor-tipped tail. He wielded two double-bladed axes, their sharp blades glinting in the lamplight.

  “Puny Tau’raj! You think you can stand against the might of the Nagos nation? Our powers run deep, and our army will overrun your lands. Soon the might of the Collective will crush your spirit and bring you under our rule.”

  The Nagos spat, then charged.

  “Oh, shit.” Xanovi said, switching targets to the new threat.

  “No, let’s finish off the king.” Scarhoof tossed Tendrils on the newcomer, but as-expected, it didn’t work. Tendrils either didn’t work on higher level enemies or he needed a higher-level spell.

  “Get Widget on him. We’ll see what we can do.”

  Scarhoof backed up against the edge of the dais, eyeing the smoke below. He suddenly remembered he had another bowl of water and grabbed it while his mana regenerated. Coming back, he threw it at the king’s face and this got a sputtering mass of angry retorts, but it seemed to have an effect.

  Damage to Widget plummeted as the King began to shrink.

  “Go get more!” Xanovi yelled.

  The new damage to Widget from the Nagos and the diminished damage from the newly sedated king, was about the same as just the larger king. Scarhoof had about seven seconds to run from the dais to the pool.

  He threw the entire water-filled bowl at the king’s face and shaved off a little bit of health in the process. With a yelp of anger, the king snatched the bowl from midair and smashed it into the wall.

  Using the distraction, Xanovi dropped his bow. He pulled the knife from his sheath and ran forward to attack. Just as the king looked up, Xanovi’s knife connected with his eye socket, finally killing him off.

  XP rolled in from the kill, but Scarhoof couldn’t pay attention to that right now. He tossed one heal then another on Widget when Xanovi’s health took a dive.

  “When will you learn your place? You cannot fight against the might of the Collective.”

  A chill ran up Scarhoof’s spine. There was something familiar about this Nagos, a distant and uncomfortable memory.

  “I am Grath’gar the Impetuous, and I have come to bring death!”

  With a guttural scream, Grath’gar skewered Xanovi in his side with the back of his axe. Blood spurted from the Beastmaster coating the dais floor. Xanovi staggered back, clutching his side, a look of terror on his face.

  Stuck in the pit with the smoke, Scarhoof couldn’t see him over the rise of the dais. He tried to heal anyway and panicked when he wasn’t able to select Xanovi. Line of sight needed flashed in his vision.

  Scarhoof swore and leapt up on top of the dais just in time to see the Nagos swing down with his axe at the prostrate Xanovi.

  “No!” Scarhoof yelled, and he leapt at the Nagos boss.

  He slammed into the Nagos, knocking his back into the wall. Its finned helmet flew off from the blow, landing with a metallic clank a few meters away.

  Grath’gar stumbled backwards hissing, his hand clutching at his face, trying to cover up his scars.

  Scarhoof got a
good look at the damage, and then he remembered. Two young soldiers on opposite sides of a battle. Acid. Pain. Disfigurement. It had been two decades ago.

  Is it the same Nagos?

  Scarhoof threw heals on Xanovi, pulling him away from danger.

  Grabbing his helmet, Grath’gar turned away and reseated his armor, then reached down to the deceased Kobold king.

  In the base of the king’s skull was a shard very much like the one Scarhoof had seen in the boar.

  With a grunt the Nagos wrenched the shard from the king’s head and held it up.

  “It is time to end this charade.”

  Power swelled around the Nagos’s hand, and white light pulsed in the shard. Smokey energy flowed from the shard up his arm, and into his body.

  Scarhoof watched in horror as the Nagos’s already enlarged body began to grow. He felt the tug of magic as the power flowed through the boss’s body.

  “Get him!” Xanovi screamed, arrows firing from his bow.

  Widget launched himself at the boss, but the Nagos spun, slashing at the boar with his razor-sharp tail.

  Scarhoof selected the pet and began to cast Mending Force, preparing for the damage he was about to take.

  In one swipe, Widget’s health went from full to nothing.

  Target: Widget is dead. Healing spells will not work on this target. Use a Resurrection spell in the next three minutes or he will be permanently dead.

  Scarhoof tried again, getting the same message. The boar’s limp body was split in two. It skidded to a stop against the back wall.

  Grath’gar laughed. “Now you see the might of the Nagos. Your race will fall!”

  “You bastard!” Xanovi screamed, dropping his bow and pulling his knives. He ran straight at the boss.

  “Xanovi!” Scarhoof screamed.

  The Nagos put away his double axes and pulled a massive trident from his back. One swing and it was impaled on the Tau’raj, throwing him against the wall with a sickening crack.

  Xanovi slumped to the floor, his head lolling to the side.

  Scarhoof began to cast Mending Force on his fallen friend, who was now at 30% health.

  Grath’gar wrenched the trident from Xanovi’s side and threw it at Scarhoof.