A fire arrow spat past my head and struck someone behind me. I heard a cry and glanced behind me to see one of Cavey’s men hit the ground, his health completely gone.
Another dead…
D loosed an arrow that sailed over my shoulder and struck Bonecrusher in the chest. The attack barely even registered.
“What the Hell!?”
Bonecrusher’s eyes flicked in our direction. Our eyes met, and I felt a chill run down my spine. D’s arrow had hit him in the chest—where there was nothing but the cloth of his robe, but the attack had barely done any damage at all.
How was that possible? Robes didn’t have any real significant armor level. Mages simply wore them because their strength was terribly low from having to put all their experience into Focus and Wisdom. Was there some kind of protection magic I didn’t know about?
There was no time to think. Bonecrusher’s eyes flicked in our direction and when our eyes met, I felt a chill down my spine. There was no fear, no goodness. There was nothing but pure evil intent, and I knew this was an opponent who would never understand mercy.
He didn’t have a wand or a staff, but instead held a glowing orange stone. Its small size somehow made it more menacing as he raised it towards me. Instantly, a massive Frost Bolt, the size of a horse, spit forth and roared through the air towards me.
I leapt out of the way and felt the chill in the air as the Frost Bolt chattered through the air to slam harmlessly into the wall of Gehman’s hut. It sounded like a glass shattering as shards of ice sprayed everywhere.
A Flame Bolt screamed past me and slammed into Bonecrusher, and I looked back to see Cavey sprinting towards us, flames coiling around the tip of his staff as he aimed at the attackers.
“Jack, down!” Xavier shouted as Cavey cast again. Cavey’s staff cracked like thunder and I hit the ground as a wall of flame blazed through the air, slamming into Chaucey and Bonecrusher. It did decent damage, but it wasn’t enough. Not by a long shot.
I leapt to my feet and sprinted towards them, doing my best to close the gap between us. Chaucey fired again, and someone behind me hit the ground. My hand tightened around my sword as I did my best to maintain control. The rush was impossible to fight, and my fight-or-flight instincts were overwhelming.
It was a life-and-death situation, and at least three of Gehman’s men were gone. I’d watched Gehman die right in front of my eyes, and the two men in front of me would kill me too without hesitation.
Chaucey aimed his bow at me, but I was close enough to activate Warrior’s Charge. The burst of strength in my legs sent me thundering towards him. I slammed into him with my shoulder, but the stun didn’t go off. I brought my sword down with all my might. Instantly, I activated Broad Strike. The damage was significant, but not enough. He was still well above half.
He leapt out of the way as Bonecrusher aimed another spell at me. Just as he was about to cast, an arrow hit him in the chest, interrupting his attack. I looked back to see D behind me, readying another arrow.
“Get him!” he shouted to me. I whirled back around and rained down on Bonecrusher with a whirlwind of attacks. Again, my blows barely did any damage. Only a small sliver was missing as he aimed another spell at me.
Someone screamed behind me, and I whirled around as Xavier threw himself into the battle, swinging his enormous halberd at Bonecrusher. The attack did even less damage than mine, but Xavier wasn’t discouraged. He just kept swinging as Bonecrusher switched his target from me to him.
Another Frost Bolt sprayed from the stone he held in his hands and slammed into Xavier at close range. Almost half of his health vanished instantly.
Chaucey’s short sword clanged against my armor and I spun around in time to deflect his next bow. Since The Ripper had raised my level to 20, it was the first time anyone had done any real damage to me, and I suddenly realized just how vulnerable I felt.
I lashed out with my sword, striking him in the shoulder. The damage was good. I activated Warrior’s Charge again, which had come off cooldown, and slammed into him. But again, the stun didn’t go off. He was just too high level.
He used a skill I’d never seen before. His sword flashed red and he unleashed a flurry of blows on me at blinding speed. They were so fast I was only able to deflect the first. The rest chipped away at my health and before I knew it, I was well below half.
“Help!” I shouted as I leapt back, trying to put some distance between me and my attacker. I ducked just in time as another of Bonecrusher’s Frost Bolts soared past me. Someone else screamed.
Chaucey leapt forward, stabbing out with his sword. An arrow struck his helm but did next to no damage. I managed to block his first swing, but the next one hit me. My health kept draining as he struck me.
I’m going to die!
Panic set in. I opened my inventory as fast as I could and found a Health Potion. This left me vulnerable to his attacks, but the potion would restore my HP if I got a chance to use it.
I brought the bottle to my lips, but Chaucey swung out and struck my hands, sending the potion flying. He kicked me in the chest and sent me tumbling backwards. I hit the ground hard and looked up to see him standing over me, a look of pure evil on his face.
“Weak,” he said as he raised his sword.
But just as he was about to swing, a Frost Arrow struck him in the chest. The damage was significant, and Chaucey leapt out of the way as another streaked past him. I looked in the direction of the shot and saw three figures racing towards town.
Osiris—level 19.
Psycho—level 21.
Kewtypie—level 18.
“It’s the Mercenaries!” I heard Xavier shout from somewhere as the three new attackers sprinted in our direction.
That’s it, I thought. We’re all going to die.
13
Sinful
I snatched my fallen Health Potion from the ground and downed it, quickly restoring my health to full. Another Frost Arrow struck Chaucey in the helm. His health was close to half and he scrambled quickly around the corner of the merchant’s building.
“You like that, Chaucey?!” Kewtypie shouted, drawing back another arrow.
“Jack!” D shouted, racing up behind me and grabbing me by the arm. “We have to get out of here—now!”
“We can’t just leave them!” I hissed.
“Did you see their levels? We can’t take them all!”
I glanced back at the battle as Psycho fired some kind of Shockwave from his wand. It crashed into Bonecrusher and ripped away at least a quarter of his health. A guild war was raging around us between two rival PK guilds, and for the moment, they seemed to have completely forgotten about Cavey and us. Two factions warring over who had the rights to attack Stoneburg, and for the moment, it was unclear who was winning.
“Let’s go!” D shouted, tugging at my arm. D was right. There was nothing we could do. It was bad enough when it was just Bonecrusher and Chaucey, but with the arrival of The Mercenaries, it was next to hopeless.
I made a move to go but stopped. Cavey was lying on his back, his health dangerously low, and Bonecrusher was aiming a spell right at him. If that hit him, it would kill him. There were only seconds left—less maybe. I leapt into action.
I sprinted forward to close the distance between us, then activated Warrior’s Charge. Waves of ice swirled around Bonecrusher’s hands. He was about to cast.
Please work, please work! I thought as I lowered my shoulder at his chest.
“Ahhh!” I screamed as I slammed into him at full speed.
The stun went off!
The ice around Bonecrusher’s hands vanished and gave Cavey the moment he needed. He sprang to his feet and quickly downed a Health Potion, bringing his health back almost to full.
“Thanks, Jack!” he shouted quickly, aiming his staff at Bonecrusher. A Flame Bolt slammed into Bonecrusher’s chest, knocking him back slightly. It was a minor victory, but this still wasn’t a fight we could win.
“
Try this on for size!” someone shouted behind me. I turned to see Psycho, aiming his wand at Chaucey, who had somehow leapt onto the roof of Gehman’s hut and was firing arrows as fast as he could.
Psycho cast, and a semitranslucent black cage formed around Chaucey’s body. It spun quickly and then collapsed in on itself, vanishing into his chest. Chaucey’s eyes almost bugged out of his head. Whatever that spell was, it scared the Hell out of him.
Before he could move, a Frost Arrow struck him, and I watched in disbelief as almost all his health vanished. Chaucey hurled himself off the roof as Kewtypie fired again, narrowly missing him with an arrow that would have killed him. He hit the ground running and started sprinting down the hill towards the lake.
Kewtypie fired again, but Chaucey ducked and the shot missed. He pulled out a Health Potion and downed it as he ran.
“He’s running!” Psycho cackled, racing after him. “Come on!”
The Mercenaries instantly dropped what they were doing and followed Kewtypie as he chased after Chaucey. He was weak, and they wanted him dead. Bonecrusher was all but forgotten as Psycho, Kewtypie, and Osiris chased Chaucey down the hill.
He ran after them, obviously trying to help his friend. I watched as they reached the flats below the hill and disappeared into the distance, the sound of their spells and arrows fading away as they ran.
I turned around as Xavier and Cavey came up behind me.
“What the Hell was that?” I blurted out. I knew exactly what it was, but I had to say something. The fight had me seriously shaken up, and I braced myself against the wall of Gehman’s hut as D came over to my side.
“That was Sinful and the Mercenaries,” Cavey replied grimly. “They’ve been at war since the beginning. Fighting over control of the Northern towns.”
“We’re nothing to them,” Xavier growled.
“Those two Sinful guys could have killed everyone,” D said.
“If The Mercenaries hadn’t showed up they might have.” Cavey nodded.
“Why… why would they do that?” I asked in utter disbelief. “After everything The Ripper said?”
“They either don’t care,” Cavey replied. “Or they don’t believe him.”
“No,” Xavier shook his head. “Some people are just evil.”
I put away my sword and slowly made my way over to the spot where Gehman had fallen. His face was completely expressionless—lifeless. A computer model, nothing more. I shuddered and looked away.
“What happens next?” I asked.
“His body will stay there until someone loots it,” Xavier replied. “And then it vanishes.”
“Vanishes?” I replied. “That’s it? No burial or anything, it just vanishes?”
No one replied. Of course there was no burial in a virtual world. It just didn’t seem right that a person could die and simply vanish from the world forever.
“Xavier, get his things,” Cavey said firmly. I could hear the pain in his voice. He was just like the rest of us—scared, fighting desperately in the world he was trapped in. But he was also a guild leader, and he knew what had to be done. He couldn’t just leave Gehman lying there forever. “Loot the others as well.”
Looting someone’s things was the closest thing in Carrethen to putting a fallen comrade to rest. But if The Ripper was telling the truth, Gehman wasn’t at rest at all. He was lost forever in the electronic void…
I watched out of the corner of my eye as Xavier knelt down beside Gehman’s body and looted whatever he’d had on him when Chaucey’s arrow struck him in the back, but as his corpse began to fade from existence, I had to look away.
“Jack,” D said quietly, stepping up beside me. “We’ve got to get the Hell out of here now. I’m not high enough level for this shit, and if those guys come back, we are going to be the ones lying on the ground!”
“I know!” I snapped back. He was right. How the Hell did Bonecrusher and Chaucey manage to pass me anyway? Even with my help, D had only reached level 12. Cavey and Xavier were 16 and 15 respectively, and even that seemed like quite the achievement.
“How did they do it?” I asked, turning around.
“Do what?” Cavey asked.
“They’re higher level than I am,” I replied. “Even if they were leveling 24 hours a day, that doesn’t seem possible.”
“We’re not exactly sure,” Xavier said grimly. “We think they’re using an exploit in a dungeon somewhere.”
“We’re not sure where though,” Cavey added. “We’ve been too busy to go looking when we don’t even know where to start.”
“Do you know what town they’re bound at?” D asked.
“Daric,” Xavier replied. “But we’re not going to attack them—”
“I know where their leveling spot is,” D interrupted.
“You do?” Cavey asked in disbelief.
“The Crimson Catacombs,” D replied. “It’s a high-level dungeon—level 40 Ilizak. They’re these giant bug things. Back in Beta there was a wall at the bottom of the dungeon that you could stand behind and shoot through and just cheese them all day long and they couldn’t get to you. Tons of experience. I thought the devs would have patched it by now though.”
“So that’s how they’re doing it…” Cavey muttered.
Glancing over at D, I saw the look in his eye and I knew what we had to do. “We have to take it from them.”
“You’re damn right we do.” He grinned.
“But first, you need some levels.”
D scowled back at me. I turned to Xavier. “Any good leveling spots around here?”
14
Vayde
We were on our way to a cave dungeon Xavier had told us about. It was filled with Horngrin and was close enough to Stoneburg that if any unfriendly players showed up, we’d be able to retreat to town if need be. We were on our way down the hill away from town when I heard a voice behind us.
“Hey, guys! Wait! Guys!?”
D and I both turned around to see a tall blonde guy racing down the hill, waving his hands frantically in the air. He was a mage by the looks of him, wore a hooded yellow robe and was clutching a blue crystal wand. He was racing after us like we’d left the stove on back in Stoneburg.
“What do you want?” I called out, tentatively gripping the hilt of my sword. If this guy had come from Stoneburg, he was probably one of Cavey’s men, but after what had just happened, I wasn’t taking any chances. I inspected him.
Vayde—level 11.
“I’m friendly!” he called out, slowing as he reached us. “I’m part of Cavey’s guild. My name is Vayde.”
“What can we do for you, Vayde?” D asked suspiciously.
“I want to come with you,” he said. “I know the best way to the dungeon, and I’ve been there before. I can help.”
“You just want to help?” D asked.
“Well, as you can see, I need some levels too!”
“Cavey needs his men watching town,” I told him. “I don’t think it’s the best idea.”
“Jack’s right,” D added quickly. “We work better on our own.”
As we turned away from him, Vayde blurted out, “Gehman was my friend!”
That stopped me in my tracks. I turned around to see him with his head down, a pained look on his face. “I need to level up, so I can come with you to the Crimson Catacombs. I was out scavenging for him when they hit Stoneburg. I got back when it was all over… I didn’t even have a chance to fight.”
“All the reason for you to go back now,” D replied. “They need all the help they can get.”
The look of rejection on Vayde’s face was painful, and I grabbed D by the arm and pulled him aside.
“We should let him come,” I whispered to him. D sighed. “His friend was killed, and he feels terrible. Plus, he’s been to the dungeon before. Where’s the downside?”
“The downside is we don’t know him!” D replied.
“You think he’ll betray us? I trust Cavey. I think we can trust him
too.”
“I think he might be a secret idiot,” D whispered back. “We haven’t even seen him fight. What if he pulls a whole pack of mobs or does something dumb and gets us killed?”
D did have a point. I turned back to Vayde who was looking at me like I was about to make the biggest decision of his life.
“You say you’ve been there before?” I asked. Vayde nodded emphatically. “And you’re a mage?”
“That’s right,” Vayde said, puffing out his chest. “I’ve got basic protection spells as well as healing spells.”
“And damage spells?” D asked.
“Of course,” Vayde scoffed. “I’m not a medic or something.”
I looked back at D and raised my eyebrows. The answer seemed pretty simple to me, but I also didn’t want to piss off D. Thankfully, he nodded.
“Okay,” I replied. “You’re in. Let’s go.”
Vayde’s face transformed into one massive grin as I brought up the Group window and added his name to it. He flipped his wand in the air and caught it again. D groaned.
“I have a bad feeling about this.”
“Okay, Han Solo.” Vayde chuckled as he pushed past us, taking the lead. I looked at D, whose eyes were wide at Vayde’s recognition of his movie reference. I laughed.
“See that? You two already have something in common.”
The world was flat below Stoneburg with hardly any trees. Small ponds dotted the landscape, pooling together to the West that looked like some sort of swampy area that I had absolutely no interest in checking out.
Swamps and water levels always creeped me out and annoyed me. Giant insects, crabs, snakes and weird water creatures were frequent in places like that, and always carried obnoxious debuffs with them. Water made things harder going and if I was able to make it out of Carrethen without experiencing any of those places, I’d be happy.
If I make it out of Carrethen, I thought as we pushed on.
The enormity of the world still amazed me. Far in the distance, a sandy mountain range rose into the sky. The cliff walls looked completely impossible to scale, but I couldn’t help but wonder just what kind of secrets that place held.
Call of Carrethen: A LitRPG and GameLit novel (Wellspring Book 1) Page 6
