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

by Tom Hansen

  Scarhoof learned something that day, that having a higher-level healer was a blessing to a bunch of lower level soldiers.

  Keeping them alive was so easy, he spent the vast majority of his mana on Spirit Shock.

  He even leveled up in there, hitting level nine with a euphoric celebration from Spirit.

  Level Up! You are now Level Nine!

  +100 Health. +100 Stamina. +100 Mana. +1 Talent Point (Note: Talents will not be unlocked until Level 10). XP Needed for next level: 1000.

  The group of them continued to wade through hundreds of enemies, picking up Tau’raj soldiers along the way. Soon, their little battalion was forty-three strong, and Scarhoof found that the numbers had grown so high that he needed to just focus on the healing.

  It was like micro-managing a herd of Tau’ri, only these ones followed orders.

  Kotovaya turned out to be well-versed in strategy and became the de facto group leader of the contingent, issuing orders and shouting to the others to keep the formations while they cut a furious swath of death through the Nagos army.

  By the time they arrived back at the front line, they had grown to seventy-six, and all of them had leveled up multiple times from the damage they had caused to the Nagos army.

  But the battle was only beginning, and Scarhoof found himself weary from the hour it took them to return to the main army.

  “Matuk Scarhoof, where have you been?”

  It was Eldermother who first noticed them coming up over the rise. Scarhoof’s spirits rose at her hunched form in the distance.

  The army line had passed over them, using their momentum in coming from the side of the Nagos to their advantage. Soon his group was safely behind the lines of the rest of their army.

  “You all disappeared when I portaled back.”

  She pursed her lips in the way she always did. Not having many teeth meant her droopy skin hung over her jowls in odd ways that usually was reserved for making the Tau’ri laugh.

  Scarhoof had to admit that it was a welcome sight amidst the raging battle.

  “Scarhoof!”

  He spun at the shout, and watched Chieftain Bloodhorn jog up.

  Around him, the rest of the soldiers clapped hands to heart in salute, their fists against leather strumming as-one as their leader arrived.

  “Sir.” Scarhoof saluted quickly, but immediately got into business. “These brave soldiers stuck around waiting for me when the army was separated. Many of them lost their lives trying to keep me safe.”

  He indicated Kotovaya. “This one in particular has a lot of leadership potential.”

  The Chieftain turned, a grave look on his face as he surveyed the haggard group.

  “Well the war’s not over yet, but you all are going to be commended.”

  Kotovaya stepped forward. “We appreciate it Sir, but we would like to head back out, and beat these Nagos whoresons back if that is okay.”

  Bloodhorn smiled. “Of course, soldier, but I insist you stop by the supply tent and restock on things you will need. I’m afraid I have to steal your esteemed healer away from you though.”

  Kotovaya saluted Scarhoof. “It was an honor, Sir.”

  Overwhelming emotions welled up in Scarhoof’s chest, remembering this brave soldier’s move an hour ago. Why was she saluting him, when it should be the other way around?

  Instead of returning the salute, Scarhoof knelt on one knee. “No, Kotovaya, you saved my life. I am forever in your debt. Thank you, all of you, for staying behind to keep the path clear for me.”

  In unison, the remainder of the troupe saluted and slowly dissipated off to the supply tent.

  “So what do we have?” Chieftain asked when they got back to the tent.

  “The southern and eastern fronts are holding. Falling back to the ridge was a smart move, but we’re going to need to do something risky if we’re going to turn the tide of the battle.” Commander Skysong finished giving her report to the rest of the leaders as they huddled around the large board with troop formations on it.

  Scarhoof hadn’t wanted to join in, but Hillbender had insisted. “We’re going to need more healers for this push and you aren’t going to get to sit this one out.” He had said as he pulled Scarhoof toward the makeshift command post.

  As the leaders discussed insertion strategies and “high-risk” tactics, he couldn’t help but look back down at the battle that continued unabated around them.

  The sounds of fighting in the distance almost seemed comical as the battle continued to rage on. It was almost like both armies were evenly matched. Right now, they had the high ground, but the enemy had the numbers.

  For every one of the Tau’raj that fell in battle, two Nagos took a ground nap.

  Yet the lines continued to remain the same. Troops continually arrived to refill the vacancies, but something nagged at him about the way the whole ordeal played out.

  There was no feeling to it all. Cold Tau’raj struck against emotionless Nagos. It was all so impersonal, lifeless.

  “And that’s where we’re going to need your help, Scarhoof. You ready for this?”

  He hadn’t been paying attention, but he nodded anyway. “Of course, Sir.”

  Did it matter if he was ready? The battle was happening with or without his help and shying away from a fight was not something he could do. It was wrong on so many levels.

  It was his duty, his responsibility.

  My destiny.

  He thought back to Spirit. Her hands were so soft, so white.

  He thought about Nitene, who he’d last seen back at Sunset Cove a few hours before. He missed her. He missed Spirit.

  He missed them both.

  The thought gave him pause. How could he have feelings for two females? There was something innately wrong about the notion.

  He thought about Spirit’s admonitions there at the end.

  The beauty within beauty, and the pattern inside the pattern.

  The thought refused to leave, reverberating around in his head, trying to take root. Each time he tried to grab hold, it loosed itself.

  Get it together, man.

  He shook his head, trying to clear it. He need to focus. Here they were going over tactics and his head was off somewhere else.

  His gaze landed on the zeppelins still spinning in circles high above the battle. He chuckled to himself and felt a little bad for all the Litlins they had knocked out and tied up. He wondered how they were going to get those zeppelins under control once the battle was over.

  If the battle ended the way they hoped.

  “Alright, well if there aren’t any more questions, we’re going to form up into two teams and we’re going to take them out.”

  He’d missed the entire plan, but again, none of that mattered. He was here to do his duty for his tribe. He was here to fight, to win if possible, to die if needed.

  He was here to serve.

  “You ready for this, Matuk? Your first raid. After this I have something to give you, do not let me forget.” Eldermother locked arms with him as they began to disperse.

  Around them, the entourage donned armor, weapons. The rest headed to the supply tent to stock up on potions.

  Scarhoof patted the soft wrinkled hand of Eldermother as she eyed Hillbender. Even after all these years apart, he could tell they still had feelings for each other. He was glad they had this time together.

  Before them, two mages opened portals, the iridescent colors swirling as time and space bent around them.

  “I will be, as soon as I find out what a raid means,” he finally replied.

  She flashed him a gummy grin. “Clearly you pay attention as well as I do in these stuffy meetings. I could probably explain it to you, but it would be best if you see for yourself.”

  Chapter 40

  The portals were supposed to insert them into strategic locations behind enemy lines.

  Unfortunately, those locations were already swarming with enemies.

  Scarhoof had never been in
a raid before. He also had never been in a party where the team was split up.

  He landed on soft sand, and immediately had to dodge a blow. Xanovi sent an arrow through the eye of the soldier that had almost sliced into Scarhoof’s neck. The fight for their lives had started.

  The Nagos had beached several of their ships along the shoreline. He’d seen this from a distance when he was up at the quarry with Jaxyl and Firemane. He had also seen it while flying with Spirit. But being down here amidst the rubble and mess that was the Nagos camp, made him realize just how bad things had gotten.

  The Nagos didn’t just have a camp, they had a small city down here, complete with wooden fortifications, crude walls, and bunks inside the overturned ships that rotted on the beach.

  Somewhere in the middle of this mess was the Nagos Commander that they needed to kill.

  Grath’gar the Impetuous.

  He ground his teeth. The name alone made him angry.

  “Just like snakes,” Eldermother had said before she jumped into her own portal. “Cut off the head and the rest is just body. They have nothing else of substance.”

  Their substance had raised a small city on the shore of the Tau’raj lands. Navigating this mess was going to be the toughest part of their journey.

  The group had been split down the middle of more and less qualified soldiers. His team consisted of the same members as in his last fight, but with the addition of Commander Skysong, who was taking point as Tank for today’s exercises.

  Most of the enemies they fought were level 16 and 17, and Skysong’s level 21 was sorely needed.

  While she wasn’t difficult to heal, given her immense tanking abilities and phenomenal ability to avoid damage, the biggest issue was that Skysong had a ton of health! Scarhoof’s drained his mana bar to heal her from zero to full.

  Not that it ever got that bad, but still. Ten percent of his mana bar to refill ten percent of her health bar was a tall order. Usually the ratio conversion of mana to health was much better than that.

  Still, Skysong soaked up damage so well that she forwent her usual scimitar and tortoise shell shield and instead opted for a 2-handed scythe-looking device that sang as she spun it through the air.

  It was so impressive watching her swing, fending off half a dozen opponents at once, that Scarhoof found himself sometimes transfixed at the poetic nature of the art that was death.

  Almost.

  “Yo Hoof, catch!” Xanovi tossed Scarhoof a mana potion.

  “Thank you.”

  Xanovi, Jaxyl, and Firemane were in full-on DPS mode.

  The odd thing about this encounter was he could see the other groups’ health bars. Whatever they were fighting against was much more dangerous than what Scarhoof and his team faced.

  Sharp spikes in damage across the entire team told a tale of pain and destruction that Scarhoof knew he wouldn’t be able to handle.

  Chieftain Bloodhorn was their tank, Hillbender healed, and Eldermother, a Mage and a Summoner rounded out their party.

  He could almost see how the various encounters played out by watching Hillbender’s mana bar and how he healed the others.

  An arrow came out at them from a dark hollow cut into one of the overturned ships. Xanovi notched an arrow and sent it into the darkness.

  Their assailant fell from the shadow, gasping from first arrow lodged in her throat. She crumpled to the ground, the large arrow nearly as tall as she was. She lacked the blue sheen to her scales that the older ones had, hers were more milky-white, possibly even yellow.

  The sound of her gurgling, and her body twitching, gave Scarhoof a lot of unease.

  Xanovi spit on the ground. “She’s making a lot of noise.”

  Skysong plunged a dagger into her throat, putting the poor thing out of her misery. “Let’s keep going,” she announced.

  Scarhoof stood over her body for a moment, saying a silent prayer for her peace. He hoped she didn’t needlessly suffer too much.

  The second one was even smaller, and after Xanovi killed this one with just one arrow, Scarhoof couldn’t keep ignoring the nagging feelings in the back of his mind. “This isn’t right, what if they are all children?”

  Skysong replied. “I agree. Besides, if we keep stopping to take pot shots at every orphan hiding out in the crevasses, we’ll never get to the center in time.”

  “But what if they alert them to our presence?” Xanovi asked.

  “Somehow, I think he already knows.” Scarhoof pointed to the tip of the large yellow shard that had been stolen from the excavation to the north. The jagged tip stuck up just above the hull of another smaller ship, and the iridescent yellow light it gave off bathed the area in a creepy glow.

  “At least we know where we’re going now.”

  Scarhoof nodded. “Skysong, can you absorb most of those arrows as they come? Xanovi, return fire, but go wide. We just want to scare them off. We don’t want them following us or taking any more shots. They’re children, so they can’t do too much damage.”

  They all agreed. Scarhoof continued to monitor Hillbender’s constantly fluctuating mana bar, hoping they would make it in time.

  He took a deep breath. There wasn’t much he could do about it from here. He needed to get through this maze so he could start helping with the healing burden.

  They jogged down the long alleyway between the sideways ships. It felt like they were following concentric circles that closed in more and more as they got closer to the center. That gave Scarhoof an idea.

  “What if we went over?”

  “Over?”

  Scarhoof pointed at the faint yellow glow on a large singular mast that pointed into the sky.

  “We seem to just be going in circles. What if we got on top of these things and just jumped them to get to the center?”

  Jaxyl grinned. “Lemme check that out.”

  He vanished, reappearing on the top, or was it the side, of a medium-sized schooner that lay between the party and the yellow crystal.

  Jaxyl shook his head.

  “After this next curve it stops circling, and turns back down this way, plus there is way more distance here than I think any of us but I can jump.”

  “Damn. Good idea, though.” Xanovi patted Scarhoof on the shoulder.

  “Not good enough.” Scarhoof ground his teeth. He needed to be out of this.

  Jaxyl appeared beside them. “It’s not far. I can hear the sounds of battle going on up there, you all care if I go on up ahead and help out?”

  The four Tau’raj shrugged at each other.

  “Go on.” Skysong stated. “Fourhoof can get us there a little faster anyway.”

  “Good idea.” Xanovi was already halfway transformed by the time Jaxyl disappeared again in a puff of black smoke.

  “I still want to know how he does that.” Scarhoof remarked.

  Firemane chuckled. “It’s all just smoke powder. Honestly, I don’t know why he insists on being all flashy like that anyway. He doesn’t need it. The smoke is just for a dramatic exit and entrance.”

  Scarhoof coughed, waving a hand to dissipate it.

  “So, he keeps making us smell like a blunderbuss, so he can impress us?”

  Firemane wiggled his fingers like they were magical. “He says it helps with the illusion Rogues have to maintain. There are rules around it or something. It’s all very hush-hush.”

  Xanovi stretched his newly formed legs. “I wish his illusions smelled better.”

  They raced around the final circle, arriving much faster than they expected to the sound of fighting.

  Skysong was the first one out of Fourhoof, followed by Scarhoof, who watched her carefully in case she was attacked.

  The air smelled acrid, charred wood and vomit, coated with a thick layer of coppery blood.

  The other group had been fighting since they all zoned in from the portals. They must be near exhaustion.

  “I’m going to have a talk with the mages about why we were inserted so far away from the
action.” Scarhoof grumbled as he pulled his newly-acquired Charred Bo from his back, taking a defensive stance behind their tank.

  Skysong grunted, and retrieved her shield from off her back, fitting it onto her right arm. Her thick knots of muscle glinted in the yellow light.

  In front of them, the sounds of battle raged, just around the corner.

  Glancing at the health bars of his companions, he knew things weren’t looking good. “Let’s get around there and help them.” Even as he said it, he worried about how much he would be able to do, not having near as much mana as the other casters in the raid.

  He was sorely outclassed here, but he had one last secret weapon he hoped would help him in his bag of tricks. He pulled out a hunk of white shard from the greater Spirit shard that was still standing in the quarry, the one they had been experimenting on.

  He remembered something from his first encounter with Grath’gar and had been wanting to try this. He just hadn’t had access to many throwaway shards until now.

  He reached inside himself, and instead of pushing his magic into the shard, he pulled on it, drawing in all of its power.

  Effect Status: Minor Spirit Shardvoid:

  +250% to all Spirit Abilities. +100% to all Fire and Earth Abilities. -100% to all Water and Air Abilities. Duration: 200 Minutes.

  He paused while he reviewed his new buff. It was ten times more powerful than simply touching the shard! He now wished he had brought more with him.

  Used up, the shard lost its sheen and luster. The magic that swirled within, the cloud of flowing Spirit was gone. He dropped the shard to the ground, where it lay like a discarded jagged piece of semi-opaque glass.

  The power coursed through his whole body, making his fingertips tingle.

  “Whoa.”

  Beside him, Xanovi seemed impressed. “That is a rad buff, my friend.”

  Scarhoof grinned back. “A little thing I picked up from Grath’gar. If the Nagos can do this, why can’t I?”

  Skysong clanged her scimitar against her shield. “We prepped?”