Call of Carrethen: A LitRPG and GameLit novel (Wellspring Book 1)

by Stephen Roark

  Skeletons that had been blown apart simply put themselves back together again. If D managed to knock one’s head off with an arrow, the disembodied skull simply rolled across the ground, floated up to rejoin its owner, or found another body without a head and kept advancing on us.

  “What do we do!?” I cried out, narrowly blocking another arrow.

  “We’re screwed!” Baltos screamed in panic.

  “We have to kill the Necromancer!” D roared, firing arrows at blinding speed.

  “I don’t see him!” Vayde shouted.

  I scanned the army in front of us, searching for the hooded figure, but all I saw were bones. An arrow slashed into my arm, picking away at my health. Baltos was leaping around the best he could, but as a close-range melee fighter with nowhere to go, he was extremely vulnerable. All he could do was try to stay alive—that’s all any of us could do.

  “There!” Vayde shouted, aiming his wand at the horde. I followed it and saw what he saw: The Necromancer.

  D loosed an arrow, which struck the Necromancer, but my heart sank when I saw his health barely even move. How high level was he!?

  I tried to inspect him but had to dodge an axe that almost took my head off. I struck back and shattered another skeleton. Vayde cast a Fireball at him. Two skeletons leapt in front of him, forming a shield and took the blow for him.

  “This isn’t going to work!” Baltos cried out, throwing himself out of the way of a volley of arrows.

  “Shut up!” D shouted, firing back. But Baltos was right—there were too many of them, and we were trapped.

  “He’s right…” I said, almost to myself. “This isn’t going to work.”

  My mind was spinning, trying to figure a way out. If I didn’t do something fast, we were definitely going to die.

  I spun around and glanced at the rock face behind us. There had to be another way out of the area. A secret door, hidden climbing route or passage through the cliff. But as hard as I looked, all I saw was stone.

  The horde was closing in like an enormous pair of jaws getting ready to clamp down and devour us. I heard Vayde cry out and whirled around just as another one of the Necromancer’s spells crashed into him and sent him slamming into the wall.

  His health was all but gone.

  “Vayde!” Baltos cried out. But before he could move, something hit him and froze him in his tracks. His body was enveloped by a blue glow that seemed to anchor him to the ground.

  A freeze spell!

  The Necromancer’s eyes seemed to smile as he aimed his bone wand at Baltos, ready to cast a spell that would surely kill him.

  Do something!

  I spun around and looked back at the cliff, and that’s when I saw it. A small tree growing from a crack in the rock. It looked like it would be strong enough to hold my weight, if only for a moment. But a moment was all I needed.

  But how would I reach it? It was high above us and there was no way I could climb the sheer rock face to get to it. All I needed was a boost.

  A boost!

  Realization hit me like a bucket of ice water to the face. I took a few steps back, readied myself, then leapt forward.

  “Aaaaaah!” I shouted as I sprinted directly at the cliff face.

  “Jack! What the Hell are you doing!?” D shouted. But there was no time to respond. I had to focus. It was all or nothing—our lives hung in the balance.

  A large rock lay directly in my path. I planted my foot and closed my eyes.

  Here we go… I thought.

  It probably wouldn’t work. The skill wasn’t even designed for this, but every real gamer knows that just because a skill wasn’t designed for something, that doesn’t mean it can’t do it.

  I activated Warrior’s Charge.

  The burst of energy hit my legs like a lightning bolt, filling them with strength. I kicked off the rock as hard as I could, transferring the horizontal momentum into vertical momentum, sending me soaring into the air like the world’s greatest Olympic high jumper.

  It worked! I thought as I sailed upwards. The cliff face rushed towards me as I shot into the sky like a rocket, my eyes fixed on the small tree pushing its way out of the rock.

  You’re going to make it! I told myself as I flew. You’re going to make it!

  I felt my momentum starting to slow as I neared the end of my jump. But it didn’t matter. I was there.

  I reached out with my foot and found the trunk of the tiny tree. It cracked under my weight and shifted, spilling stone chunks that rattled down the cliff face below. But I didn’t need to stand there any longer. All I needed was the extra height.

  I spun around quickly and activated Warrior’s Charge again as it came off cooldown. I didn’t need the stun. I didn’t need the attack power. I just needed the speed.

  The tree snapped as I kicked off and hurled myself into the air. Looking down, I saw my comrades, backs to the wall as the horde of undead closed in on them. Baltos was frozen, and the Necromancer was taking aim. I could see them all. Everything was so small beneath me.

  How frigging high am I? I thought as I started to fall.

  My hands tightened around the hilt of my Executioner’s Blade as I began to plummet towards the ground.

  This is it!

  26

  Charred Bone

  I hurtled towards the Necromancer like a meteor that would destroy all life on Earth. His wand was raised, and I knew I had seconds at best before he blasted Baltos out of existence, sending his soul to spin forever in the Electronic Void.

  “Aaaaah!” I screamed as I brought my Executioner’s Blade down with all my strength.

  I hit the ground like a nuclear warhead. My sword struck the icy ground causing a Flake Strike larger than anything I’d seen before. A sound rang out, indicating a critical cast of the sword’s spell and I watched as a torrent of flames cascaded out in front of me as though the ground itself was made of fire.

  Skeletons burst and popped around me as my flaming pillar of death ripped a corridor through the horde, cutting through their bodies towards the Necromancer.

  The spell struck him, enveloping him with fire, and I watched as he was thrown high into the air, his dark cloak engulfed in flames. His health sank well below half, and without hesitation, I leapt into the air to meet him.

  I planted my foot on a skeleton in front of me as it spun, engulfed in flames. I jumped and swung my sword up as the Necromancer began to fall. I hit him with the serrated edge and heard my sword chip as it applied the Bleeding Wound debuff.

  His body spun from the impact, and I brought my sword down as we both fell towards the earth. My sword hit him like a hammer. The ground cratered beneath him when he hit. I landed on top of him and activated Broad Strike. The blow sent his wand spinning away from him.

  The air was hot around me. I felt the flames at my back. Skeletons burned and collapsed all around me. I heard D’s arrows and Vayde’s Fireballs cutting through the mob. Somewhere, Baltos was shouting as he pummeled at the foes with his cestus.

  The Necromancer’s health was critical. I smiled at his demonic eyes.

  “Execute,” I said softly as I used the skill.

  The edge of my blade took his head clean off his body. His HP vanished, and I watched as his entire body burst into a cloud of fire and smoke, leaving nothing behind but the crater in the ground beneath him. Then, all around me, the skeletal horde burst out of existence.

  Silence.

  You did it, I thought as I looked around the clearing which was now empty. My eyes met Baltos, whose health was all but gone.

  “Holy shit!” he screamed.

  Ding!

  I leveled up, but I was too happy to be alive to open my character sheet.

  “It worked…” I muttered as my group came racing over to me.

  “You did it!” D shouted, throwing his arms around me.

  “It worked!” I said louder as my group threw themselves onto me in a massive group hug.

  “What the Hell was tha
t?” Baltos shouted as we collapsed onto the ground in a pile. “I mean—how did you come up with that?!”

  “I had to do something!” I laughed.

  “Was that—was that Warrior’s Charge?” he asked. “I didn’t think it was meant to be used for something like that!”

  “It’s not.” D grinned, nodding approvingly at my misuse of the game’s mechanics. He was always finding bugs and exploits in games and then showing them to me, and for the first time, I’d discovered one on my own. He was proud.

  “Well, hey.” I chuckled as I got to my feet. “I couldn’t just let you die, right?”

  “Okay, Mr. Badass,” D scoffed.

  “Let me heal you, Baltos,” Vayde said, casting a heal spell. “If you fall over too hard you’ll probably die.”

  I opened up my character sheet and saw that I’d hit level 23.

  “Wow. Did you guys level too?”

  “I’m 20…” D said with disbelief.

  “I’m 19!” Vayde cheered.

  “Aw, man!” Baltos grumbled. “I’m like… a sliver from 19!”

  “I wonder what level that Necromancer was,” I replied with a laugh. “Must have been 80 or something.”

  “It was all the skeletons,” D corrected me. “I’m pretty sure we just all divvied up the experience from the entire horde.”

  “Ahhhh,” I replied. “I guess I should have left the party before I killed him. Gotten all the experience for myself. I’d be like level 30 by now!”

  “You wouldn’t do that to us.” Baltos laughed.

  “What did he drop?” D asked, coming over to the place where the Necromancer had died. “That’s what I wanna know.”

  He began sifting through the loot, froze, then turned back and flashed a look at Vayde.

  “What?” Vayde asked. D just smiled. “What?”

  Vayde was getting excited, and D could tell, so he just kept grinning at him, increasing the suspense.

  “Tell me!” Vayde shouted. “Did he drop his wand!?”

  “Not only that,” D replied. “But his robe too.”

  “What?!” Vayde exploded, racing forward to see if D was telling the truth or not. But he was. There, on the ground, was the Necromancer’s wand and his crimson robe.

  “Man, why am I the only one not getting good loot!?” Baltos whined.

  “Don’t worry, buddy,” I replied. “We’ll find you something soon.”

  “Is it good?” D asked as Baltos equipped the robe. Somehow, it didn’t look as evil on him, and was a lot better than the yellow one he’d been wearing.

  “Robe of the Witching Woods,” Vayde replied. “Plus ten to Focus and Wisdom!”

  “What was your other one?”

  “Zero bonuses,” he replied. “Just a tiny bit of armor.”

  “How about the wand?”

  “Necromancer’s Bone Wand,” Vayde read as he examined his new item. “Wow. It gives a 7 percent bonus to all War Magic spells and has a built-in spell.”

  “Let me guess,” Baltos groaned. “A freeze spell?”

  “Petrify.” Vayde grinned. “Freezes the target for 5 to 8 seconds.”

  “I love huge upgrades like this,” Baltos remarked, allocating all his free xp. We all did, and I was able to raise my Strength again to 152, my Quickness to 146, and most of all, my sword to 203.

  It’s not like 200 was any sort of milestone. The game didn’t add any sort of damage or extra abilities or anything, but it was a nice mental achievement to see a 2 instead of a 1, so I was happy about that. My health was up to 125 as well, which was letting me feel a little more confident about the rest of our coming journey.

  “118 coordination,” D announced. “And Bow’s at 160.”

  “Wow, that’s a huge jump,” I replied.

  “You can train Fletching now, right?” Vayde asked.

  “I sure can,” D said with a smile. “And as much as it pains me to train a trade skill—I’m not going to have to wait for some other dumbass to make me elemental arrows now.”

  “What do you need to make them?” Baltos asked.

  “Arrow shafts and arrowheads,” D replied. “You can get those anywhere. But for the elemental stuff, you need Concentrated Elemental Oils. Frost, Fire, Lightning, Acid. You can get them from Alchemists and certain Mage NPCs.”

  “Any in Daric?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

  “There are,” D replied.

  “Well then.” I chuckled. “We better get moving.”

  I couldn’t help but feel a lot more confident as I looked at our group. We’d all come so far since The Ripper’s arrival—since our first visit to Stoneburg and the Sinful raid. But it wasn’t enough.

  We had a long way to go if we were going to face him. Level 126 seemed impossible, but if we were able to wrestle the Crimson Catacombs from Sinful, we’d be able to use the exploit spot for ourselves, and then face off against him.

  The more I thought about it, the more anxious I felt. Gehman was dead, as were many of Cavey’s men. How many more would die before all of this was over with? What kind of terrible person was The Ripper, and why had he singled me out?

  So many questions, and so few answers.

  They’ll come in time, I told myself as I sheathed my sword and we struck out through the Witching Woods on our way to Daric. And then, Ripper, we will come for you!

  27

  Daric

  The trek through the remainder of the Witching Woods was quick and uneventful. I couldn’t help but wonder how far the Necromancer’s reach had been. Killing him seemed to have quieted the forest, and it wasn’t long before we found ourselves crouched on the tree line, peering out across a snowy expanse at the town of Daric.

  “There it is,” D said quietly.

  “The hornet’s nest,” Vayde mused.

  “See any scouts?” I asked.

  “No,” D replied.

  “Me either,” Baltos added.

  “Maybe you were right,” D told me. “They’re overconfident. Not bothering to defend their town.”

  Daric was a small town, a cluster of small huts laid out in a square. It was quiet, unassuming, but there was something foreboding about it. Maybe it was just because I knew who it belonged to, but I couldn’t help but feel slightly hesitant as I gazed out at the cluster of buildings. To be honest, I’d expected something more impressive.

  The architecture resembled Stoneburg, but there was something more… Northern and rugged about it. The roofs were taller and more steeply sloped to shed snow and had large chimneys with plumes of black smoke steadily pouring out. I felt a pang in my chest as I remembered the billowing clouds of soot from Gehman’s workshop.

  There was no real vegetation to speak of. Just a few small fir trees here and there with a single stone road leading into town.

  “There’s the mage shop.” Vayde pointed to a building on the back right corner of town. “They’ll have your scrolls.”

  “I see the Alchemist,” D added. “The closest building on the left. They’ll have the oils for my arrows.”

  “Let’s get in and get out as fast as we can,” I said, getting myself ready to go.

  “What do we do if someone shows up?” Baltos asked. I could see the eagerness in his eyes. He was eager to help us, but he wasn’t quite level 19, and the last time we ran into Chaucey in Stoneburg he was level 22. Bringing Baltos into town could be a big mistake if we ran into any trouble.

  “Baltos. You stay here,” I said firmly. “Give D any loot you want to sell, and he’ll give you the money.”

  Baltos looked at me in shock, looked at D, then back at me.

  “Wait, what!?”

  “You’re too low level,” I told him. “Sinful and The Mercenaries were in their 20s the last time we saw them. There’s no telling what they are now. They could one-shot you.”

  “I’m only a little bit lower than Vayde!” Baltos protested.

  “I’ll stay with you,” Vayde said quickly. “We’ll keep watch. If we see anyone coming,
we’ll whistle.”

  Baltos scrunched up his face. I could see he wanted to argue, but he knew we were right.

  “Fine,” Baltos said, sounding miserable.

  “Whistle once for one person,” D told them. “And twice if there’s a group. And then move your position immediately in case they come for you.”

  With a final look at Daric to make sure everything was clear, I drew my sword. “Let’s go, D.”

  We set out quickly across the open ground towards town. After spending so long in the Witching Woods, I felt incredibly exposed out in the open. Daric was flanked on two sides by rolling hills, any of which could have a scouting party behind them, or a group of Sinful members returning to town. They’d be on us before we had a chance to react.

  But I needed my scrolls and D needed his oils. They were significant items that would help us, and if Menace was going to be as powerful as I thought it was, it would be essential to our progress. And the best part? No one would see it coming.

  “Looks clear,” D whispered as we reached the Alchemists’ building and took cover against a wall. I peered around the corner at the town square. He was right. Aside from the merchants and a few other NPCs, Daric appeared to be deserted.

  “Let’s buy and sell and get the Hell out of here,” I told him. “I don’t want to be here any longer than we have to.”

  “Roger, roger.” D nodded. I sprinted across the town square towards the mage hut, while D slid inside the Alchemist building. As I reached the window-counter, I saw the town had a Master Mage and understood even more why Sinful kept Daric as their home base.

  Master Mages sold the highest level stuff you could buy from NPCs. Scrolls all the way up to level 6, Peerless Mana Stones which were used to instantly replenish a player’s mana pool or mana on an enchanted item, and robes with all kinds of different casting bonuses.

  “How may I help you, traveler?” the Master Mage asked as I stepped up to him and opened my inventory window. He was clothed in a bright teal robe with a purple collar and sash.

  “Void Magic,” I said quickly.

  “Of course, sir!”

  Instantly, a small window appeared, showing me the list of spells he had for sale. I scrolled past Protection, Item, and War Magic until I found it.

  There it is!