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

by Stephen Roark

  Void Magic, and beneath it, Menace—all the way up to level 6.

  The level 3 version of the spell required 70 skill. I was at 65.

  So close!

  I bought all the scrolls anyway. They didn’t cost much. Eventually, I’d be able to learn them, and I didn’t want to have to worry about finding a mage again. I needed a wand and purchased a Finely Crafted Werren Wand. It was pretty basic of course, with a simple 2 percent bonus to Void Magic.

  “Thank you, sir!” the Master Mage said cheerfully as I closed the trade window. “And may fortune follow you on your journey!”

  I’d never learned a spell before and was excited to see what would happen. I opened my inventory, hovered two fingers over the Menace II scroll and pressed.

  Something that sounded like chimes rang out as my body was enveloped by a swirling cloud of red, purple, and yellow, like a miniature tornado. It was a celebration, as though the game was happy for me learning a new spell.

  I turned back around to look for D, but a thought occurred to me.

  What other spells were there to learn in Void Magic?

  I turned back to the Master Mage, but before I could speak to him again, I heard a whistle behind me.

  Instantly, I dropped to the ground and found cover around the corner of the hut. Another whistle rang out through the air.

  Two players!

  I scanned the area, searching for whichever members of Sinful were returning to town, but the hills seemed clear. It didn’t look like anybody was coming. I checked behind me, but there was nothing.

  Was it possible that Baltos or Vayde was just messing with us?

  I almost stood up, but that’s when I saw them.

  Bonecrusher and Chaucey, coming in from the North. They were both wearing identical white robes with purple plate mail helmets. The only difference between them, was Bonecrusher was holding a glowing stone in his hands, and Chaucey was carrying an enormous red bow. I inspected them.

  Bonecrusher—level 32

  Chaucey—level 34

  Shit, I thought as they came into town. It’s worse than I thought!

  28

  A Deadly Choice

  Keeping my head down, I looked around for D. He wasn’t at the Alchemist shop. He could have gone over to the General Merchant to sell, and if he hadn’t seen them and came walking out of the shop unprepared, he’d be in big trouble.

  I scanned the town square, the General Merchant’s building, the Bowyer, the Blacksmith—

  There!

  The Blacksmith’s building had a single long window on the side facing the square. I saw D crouched there, peering out over the counter. I waved my hand, trying to get his attention, but his eyes were on the two Sinful members who were making their way across the town square.

  “So much loot.” Bonecrusher chuckled as they made their way towards the General Merchant. “I’m running out of room for all these Pareals.”

  “Don’t sell there, remember?” Chaucey corrected him. “The Blacksmith gives better prices on the armor.”

  “Duh.” Bonecrusher laughed at himself.

  The Blacksmith!

  I watched in horror as the two changed directions and started heading right to where D was hiding.

  What do I do!? I thought, starting to panic. Chaucey had more than 10 levels on me and was literally twice Baltos’ level and much more experienced with PvP. They’d wipe the floor with him and Vayde in an instant, probably just one-shot them, and then turn on D and me.

  We’d have to make a run for it. If we could get over the crest of one of the hills without being spotted, we’d be safe. Unless of course there were more of their guild members waiting there.

  Chaucey glanced over his shoulder in my direction, and I spun around the corner of the Mage hut, drawing my sword, going over our options in my head.

  I could try and take them on—distract them long enough for D to score some critical hits while they had their backs turned. Maybe Vayde would be able to deal some damage from afar with his spells?

  Not likely…

  I could run for it—circle wide around the town and get Baltos and Vayde and make a run for it. But what about D? Bonecrusher and Chaucey were closing in on him, and if they found him, he was toast.

  “Goddamn it,” I whispered, poking my head around the side of the building. They were closing in on the Blacksmith’s, but still had their backs turned to me. Maybe, just maybe I’d be able to hit them hard from behind if I could sneak up on them.

  Warrior’s Charge, Broad Strike, Flame Strike, slash, slash, Bleeding Wound… execute?

  I mulled over my attack combo quickly, but I wasn’t very hopeful about the results. I could open with Menace, but I was so far away that when the spell hit them, they’d turn around and start firing at me before I had a chance to get within melee range.

  “Shit!” I hissed at myself. They were a few feet away from the Blacksmith’s. I had to do something, or D was certainly dead. “Well, here goes nothing.”

  I sprang to my feet and activated Warrior’s Charge for an extra boost of speed. I took off across the town square, running as quietly as I could. If I could just reach them before they found D, I could distract them long enough for the rest of my party to escape.

  If I could reach them.

  But suddenly, a voice rang out behind me.

  “Have a good day, sir!”

  What the…?

  I glanced over my shoulder and saw it was the Master Mage, obviously preprogrammed with an automatic response callout for every time a customer left. There was no way Bonecrusher and Chaucey hadn’t heard that, and when I looked up at them, I saw I was right.

  “What the—?” Chaucey roared as he raised his bow towards me. I ducked out of the way before he fired. A fire arrow sizzled through the air and embedded itself in the snowy ground behind me.

  “D!” I shouted as I slid behind the Bowyer’s hut for cover. An arrow hit the building and stuck. Clutching my sword, I saw a Fireball scream out of the woods and watched as it roared into the town square.

  Vayde.

  I heard it impact on someone, and then Bonecrusher’s laugh. “Hah! Who fired that low-level piece of crap!?

  I heard him cast as he replied with an enormous Frost Bolt aimed at the trees where Baltos and Vayde were hiding.

  “Get out of the way!” I screamed as it smashed into the trees, sending shards of ice spiraling into the air.

  “Yaaaaah!” I shouted, leaping from cover and raising my sword above my head. I raced towards them as D emerged from his cover. He raised his bow, and I saw an arrow in his bow, green and dripping like it was covered in some sort of slime.

  Acid arrows! I realized. D must have bought some Acid Oil at the Alchemist and quickly fletched some for himself. He fired.

  The arrow struck Bonecrusher in the back and scored a critical hit. The damage was noticeable, but not substantial, but I watched as more of his health slowly ticked away. Those acid arrows must have had some sort of damage over time debuff on them. D fired again.

  “What the Hell is this!?” Bonecrusher roared, spinning around and firing a Frost Bolt in his direction. D almost got out of the way, but the edge of the icy shard struck his arm and whipped him around like a rag doll, tearing away a quarter of his health.

  Chaucey had his bow aimed at me, a fire arrow ready to go, but I was already on top of him. Warrior’s Charge was still on cooldown, so I aimed my blade straight at his chest and drove it into him with all my strength.

  It hit hard, and the damage was decent, but Chaucey reacted quickly, dodging my next blow easily as he drew his short sword. It was different than the one I’d seen in Stoneburg and looked as though it had been made from some kind of monster.

  It was purple and black, jagged and curved, and looked as though it was a pincer of some kind that a handle had been fashioned for, so it could be used as a sword.

  He swung out, slashing me across the chest. Shockingly, it didn’t do a lot of damage, b
ut then again, Chaucey’s main skill was Bow and I was wearing an awesome suit of armor.

  “Nice try,” I grinned. “Now it’s my turn.”

  I activated Broad Strike and slashed him in the shoulder. The damage was good, and I followed up with two more basic swings. The first hit, but he blocked the second.

  Warrior’s Charge was ready to go, but just as I was about to activate it, something slammed into me and took me off my feet.

  My health plummeted as I tumbled across the frozen ground, and I realized Bonecrusher had just hit me with one of his Frost Bolts at point-blank range. I rolled and managed to get to my feet just in time to see a Fire Arrow streaking towards me. I flailed out with my sword and managed to block it just before it hit me.

  “Jack!” I heard Baltos cry out and looked to see him and Vayde racing towards town.

  “No!” I shouted. They were too low level to get involved. Bonecrusher’s spell had almost killed me. If it hit one of them they’d be obliterated.

  I dodged another arrow as one of Vayde’s healing spells hit me, raising my health to just above half. It was better, but I was still extremely vulnerable. As Bonecrusher took aim, I flung myself behind the Bowyer’s hut.

  Chaucey fired at Baltos. The arrow nicked him, but still took off almost half his health. Vayde hit me with another healing spell, but this was a losing battle. I clutched my sword as my health restored to full. I had to do something. But what!?

  Menace!

  The realization hit me like a ton of bricks and I quickly searched through my inventory for my wand. It was nothing special, but that didn’t matter. All I needed was to cast the spell. I equipped it, spun around the corner of the building, took aim at Chaucey and cast.

  My mana pool dropped as the same semitranslucent black cage I’d seen Psycho cast back at Stoneburg sprang into existence around Chaucey. It swirled a moment, then collapsed in on itself in the middle of his chest with the sound of a bass drop.

  It worked!

  Chaucey spun around and through the slit in his helm, I saw the terror in his eyes when he realized what I’d done. 20% of his armor had just been taken away.

  “What the Hell!?” he gasped as I switched back to my sword.

  “D, now!” I shouted.

  D wasted no time. He loosed an acid arrow straight at Chaucey’s back. It slammed into him and scored a critical hit. At least a quarter of his health vanished instantly. He whirled around to face D, leaving himself open to me. I seized the opportunity.

  I drove my sword into his back with all my might. The damage was enormous. He staggered back and spun to face me but was hit instantly by my Warrior’s Charge. The sun hit him, and I unleashed on him with everything I had.

  It was working. His health was below half and dropping quick. My stun wore off and he recovered, drawing his sword again, but as he raised it to swing, a blue aura enveloped him, and he froze in place.

  I whirled around to see Vayde aiming his Wand of the Witching Woods at him.

  Petrify! I realized. The same one the Necromancer had used on us was built into his wand, and Vayde had just used it on Chaucey.

  I spun around and hit Chaucey with another Broad Strike and watched as his health fell to below critical. Another strike would kill him.

  “No!” I heard Bonecrusher cry out, raising his casting stone at me. But before he could fire, I raised my sword to strike at Chaucey.

  “Don’t even think about it!” I roared. “One more hit and he’s dead!”

  Bonecrusher hesitated. A close-range hit from him at this range might kill me. I’d taken one earlier, but just barely. But he knew that if he killed me, Chaucey would die immediately after that. D would easily be able to finish him off with a single arrow.

  Petrify wore off and Chaucey was able to move again. But it didn’t matter. He was frozen with fear. I glared at him, and as our eyes met, I was taken instantly back to the Stoneburg raid.

  His eyes were replaced by Gehman’s, lifeless, as his body fell to the ground in front of me, Chaucey’s fire arrow embedded in his back.

  “You killed my friend,” I told him flatly. I could see the fear in him. All of his strength, the poise with which he had once held himself, the terror he’d instilled in me—it was all gone now. One blow from my sword and his life would be over.

  “Do it, Jack!” D hissed.

  The anger inside of me agreed with him. It swirled and spun like a hot sphere of molten lava within my chest, urging my hand, crying out for me to bring my blade down and rid the world of Carrethen of this evil person.

  The muscles in my arm were tense. I shifted forward as I readied myself for the final blow.

  29

  The Right Thing

  “Do it, Jack!” Vayde shouted. “He killed Gehman!”

  “Don’t!” Bonecrusher pleaded. “Please—don’t!”

  Chaucey’s face, filled with fear, looked back at me as I held my sword ready to strike. There was no telling how many players he’d killed. Gehman, Cavey’s men, and others I didn’t even know about. Carrethen would be a better place without him.

  But all I could hear was The Ripper’s voice in my mind.

  Lost forever in the Electronic Void…

  “If you won’t, then I will!” D hissed, pulling his bow string back.

  “Wait!” I shouted, raising a hand in his direction. D stopped and glared at me with complete disbelief.

  “What are you talking about!?”

  “We’re—we’re not murderers,” I told him.

  “But they are!” he snapped back. “What do you want to do? Just let them go?”

  I turned to see Baltos jogging over towards us and thought back to the first time we met. Mr. Glorious being chased by a Hollow Warrior.

  I wondered what kind of a person he was on the other side, in the real world. I’d been in Carrethen for so long that it had become my reality, but now, with my sword hanging over Chaucey’s head, I couldn’t help but think about who these people really were. I’d never even met D in real life!

  “Are you guys all right!?” Baltos cried out as he reached us. There was an innocence about him still, and I couldn’t help but think he was probably a young teenager. After all, who would name themselves Mr. Glorious? Baltos was probably a nice guy from a decent home who just logged into Call of Carrethen to have some fun and was then trapped, just like the rest of us.

  “We’re fine,” I told him. I looked back at Chaucey. “Why do you do it?”

  “Do what?” he asked, his voice quivering.

  “Kill people! Like the ones back at Stoneburg!”

  “That’s what you do in this game…” he replied. I got the feeling that if he wasn’t so terrified he would have shrugged.

  “Didn’t you hear what The Ripper said?” I asked him. “About what happens when you die!?”

  Chaucey’s face twisted and his demeanor instantly shifted. That same expression I’d seen in his face back in Stoneburg returned, and he looked at me with absolute contempt.

  “You think we’re ever getting out of here!?” he snapped. “You think he will ever let us leave? Wake up! It’s kill or be killed. Or do you want to be like those sheep back in Stoneburg, just waiting to die?”

  “Kill or be killed, huh?” I repeated. “So, I should just kill you?”

  I bit down hard on the inside of my lip as I stared into his eyes. I’d hoped the pain would distract me from the moment, but there was no physical pain in Carrethen. Nothing to save me from the dilemma in front of me.

  Chaucey was still afraid, but I could see he believed exactly what he was saying. And the hardest thing about it was his words actually made sense to me too.

  Gehman was a nice guy, and he’d died because of it. Cavey and Xavier were good men and were struggling to keep Stoneburg safe. Bonecrusher and Chaucey were ruthless killers and in Carrethen, they were thriving.

  The world would be a safer place without them in it, and I knew that. They had made a choice, and that choice had
led them down the road to becoming the men they were now. But I had a choice to make for myself as well, one that would determine not only the kind of person I would be for the rest of my time in Carrethen, but who I would be when I got back home… whenever that would be.

  I looked at Chaucey and I made my choice.

  “Go,” I said simply, dropping my sword to my side. “Give me your sword and bow and get out of my sight.”

  “What!?” D cried out, swinging his bow to aim directly at Chaucey’s head.

  “D, don’t,” I said, stepping in front of him.

  “What are you talking about!?” he snapped, looking at me like I’d lost my mind. “They tried to kill us! They killed Gehman and who knows how many of Cavey’s men! And we’re just going to let them live!?”

  “We’re—we’re not murderers!” I shouted, forcing the words through my lips. If I said them out loud, maybe I would believe them more than I did.

  Before D could reply, Chaucey spun around and sprinted away from us. Bonecrusher was right behind him. D looked at me, dumbfounded, an acid arrow still nocked in his bow as we watched them run away from us and disappear over the crest of one of the hills.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me,” D said angrily, looking absolutely flabbergasted. Finally, my body relaxed, and I took a deep breath and looked up at the sky. The sun was coming up over the horizon and for a brief, brief moment, I was able to forget everything that had just happened and simply enjoy the beauty of the world.

  “You did the right thing,” Baltos said quietly, placing a hand on my shoulder. “We are different than them.”

  “What happens when we run into them next time?” D scoffed, stepping in front of me and getting right in my face. He was pissed. D could have a temper, but I had rarely ever been on the receiving end of it. “Next time when they have numbers, and your little Void Magic spell can’t save us—you think they’re going to just have mercy on us? Or are they going to put another fire arrow in your back like they did to your buddy Gehman?”

  He didn’t even wait for me to respond. He just turned and strode away from me. I watched him go.

  “He just needs time to cool off,” Baltos said, doing his best to help the situation. Deep down, I was telling myself that D had agreed with my decision—what I’d said. But what was scaring me was that I wasn’t sure if I believed it.