Isekai Magus: A LitRPG Progression Saga

by Han Yang

  An odd cow variation grazed wild grass, and a herd of young elk mingled in the same field. I’d only seen a few of those mounts so far, and I decided one of them would be nice when we could.

  The small river ran through the outpost, and even from a mile away, I could hear clashing swords. I remembered the city center had a small training arena.

  I glanced that way, seeing the stacked three-story adventurer buildings and taverns in the central part of town. Just because this was the north didn’t mean people didn’t hunt. Clearly, we were able to find decent loot ourselves just a few hours away.

  This was a frontier town, and based on our first trip, it seemed like a staging point for those too cautious to go to Litroo or those who wanted a different experience.

  Toosi, the mare on the left, caught my eye because the poor thing hobbled slightly. I didn’t know horses, but Bell assured me she needed an animal healer which I learned I was unable to do.

  Her hobbling gait led me to digging into the rules on necromancy since it was a longer trip back due to the horses' slowed pace.

  All the books contained were theories. Lord Harvish was the best accounting of a famous necromancer. The rest of the humans both failed to record and tell their tales, or the specific book seller had nothing better.

  Lord Harvish had no cavalry, telling me if I killed Toosi to ease her pain and make her an immortal minion, well - she’d just die.

  “You okay?” Bell asked.

  “Yeah, just spiraling down a dark hole called my necromancer life. Toosi wouldn’t need repairs if she were undead. Maybe we can get some bears to pull us,” I said with a shrug.

  She scoffed and rolled her eyes. “A lot of this is going to be learning as we go. Are you ready for this?”

  “Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?” I asked.

  “We blitzed through last time. This time, I’m going to pick up rope and more supplies while you go to the Roast Merry. That’s the recruit and hiring bar.

  “The goal is to find some teammates desperate enough to go with a water mage and a healer into the great unknown. Be honest, we’re traveling to the next realm. It’s not unheard of for adventurers to make such claims, earn good loot, and return home with riches.

  “And honestly, your kind is desired out here. Everyone wants a resurrection on standby; I’m the tag along for a major war band that is rarely wanted. You saying you’re a healer will entice some fools. No mentioning you’re into necro, you weirdo. I’ll sell the fish, the busted sword, and you get us some new recruits,” she said with a tease.

  “And a room… or do you want to head out tonight?” I asked.

  “A nice bed helps with back pain. Separate rooms, though,” she said with a finger wag. “If I get held up and you don’t like the bar, reserve mine under Lady Caity.”

  “Sure, I’ll worry, though,” I said.

  “While I may not be a fighter. We get checked on our way into the outpost. No one over a thousand Ostriva points gets in and over five hundred normally means you sit at the gate while runners shop for you. Based on your blank stare, you don’t know. A murder equals 1500 Ostriva points minimum. So, in theory I’ll be fine. If anything, I owe myself a bit of fun,” she said, glancing at me with a side eye.

  I didn’t take the bait, eager to get inspected at the gate.

  The guard happened to be the same one who let us in last night. He noticed we were missing our miscee, and we told him the story. When he checked our same zero Ostriva scores, he didn’t bother us again.

  Bell kicked me out of the wagon when she neared a trading market, and I grabbed my pack. I once again told her to be safe.

  For some odd reason, I found myself drawn into feeling the need to protect her. Me, the no commitment, never caring what problems others have kind of guy had gone soft.

  My whole life, the mantra was only a minor hand up, never a hand-out, and never getting involved in other people's problems.

  Now, I was different. Clearly.

  I shook my head, stepping off for the Roast Merry. I had six gold to my name and a mission. The cobbled roads weren’t clean, and if I had to guess that was to keep the muck on the road to fill the divots.

  The buildings weren’t nearly as refined as in Tarb, but the upkeep decent.

  Clash!

  A roaring applause and then laughter stretched through the town’s center. A crowd dispersed, and I arrived at the Roast Merry before the others could return to their drink.

  The door creaked on hinges, opening into a well-lit barroom. Directly in front of the entryway rest a bulletin board. Behind that sat mostly tables with benches, and not a single chair besides on a corner stage. Even the bar held a long bench.

  I stepped up to the board, eyeing the quests. If you completed a quest, you were to report to a gate guard.

  Kill a deer. Just an ordinary deer. Five silver.

  Slay a mountain tarbin. Eight gold.

  Kill a lacrva alpha. Ten gold.

  Capture wild game alive. Reward varied, noted as higher alive than dead.

  The general theme repeated itself. No solve a riddle, sing a tune, say a passphrase from a mimic, or clear out ten rats in a basement. Everything had to do with the local area, and the further you got, the more the reward was. Like the mountain trolls paid a single Z for the body.

  I had to wonder if there were alchemy properties to some of the items because why would you pay for a troll body that already was missing the Z.

  Maybe it’s a tax redistribution by the King.

  I shifted to check out the hiring adverts. If you wanted to be hired, the sign said to go to the guilds, charters, mercenaries, and adventuring companies recruiting offices near town center.

  Healer needed. Level 10 minimum.

  Fire mage needed. Level 20 minimum.

  Earth mage needed. Level 10 minimum.

  Lightning mage needed. Level 15 minimum.

  Freezing mage needed. Level 15 minimum.

  Illumination mage needed. Level 15 minimum.

  Forest mage needed. Level 15 minimum.

  Archer with aim of 20

  Fighter with melee combat of 20

  These were all for the same company; Tafo Adventuring Guild. No one else was hiring. My guess was that they were paid by the king or the duke to run this outpost and earnings were slim.

  No necromancer or water mage.

  I glanced over to the looking for work section. At least thirty applicants had their names up. I tossed my hands on my hips when the crowd from the arena returned into the bar.

  A few eyed me, checking out the ‘hire me’ postings. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out why there were openings and a gaggle of folks not being hired.

  Those wanting work wanted gold up front and a contract. The problem was they didn’t even come close to the requirements. Hell, Desra could literally burn down a forest and was only a sixteen mage. A twenty probably only existed in Litroo, telling me the guild here was full up and the stragglers needed to flounder on their own.

  I glanced at the list, not seeing anything on paper that would say, hire me for next to nothing and when we learn you’re a necro mage we won’t cut your heart out.

  I left the board and walked to the bar. A young man and woman, both about eighteen, sat at the bar, having arrived with the crowd. Ginger twins, light freckles, and both easy on the eyes. I wasn’t bi in the slightest, but I could call a man pretty or handsome.

  They wore hand me down adventuring garb with staves tucked against the bar.

  They smiled painfully while the bartender slapped his fingers into his palm, asking for coins.

  “Come on, Donnie, we’re good for it,” the young lady said in a pleading manner with her elbows on the bar.

  “Tarla, I dun told ya, stick yer name on the board. Yer only going to go out so many times and strike out before the mayor throws ya out,” Donnie said.

  “Actually,” a gruff voice said, his boots clomping loudly. I saw a guard uniform. “Pay up your ci
ty tithe for the week or ya gotta go.”

  “Oh, Treb, don’t be like that,” Tarla said. Her brother kept his mouth shut, letting her handle the negotiating. She batted her eyelashes and Treb almost caved. “We’ll leave in the morning and sleep outside the walls tonight or pull guard duty for five copper. Each.”

  “Ha! As if. Yer out by tomorrow unless you have three silvers for the city upkeep. Living in Tafo isn’t free, even if you sleep outside the walls,” Treb said in a stern manner.

  I slid into the bench beside the brother and said, “Donnie, three ales, two rooms, and a big plate of food, please.”

  He eyed me like I’d shot his dog. His fingers came out, and he started counting with them.

  “Eleven silvers, so a gold and a silver, if ya got it,” he said.

  “I do. Lady Caity is my companion and will have her own room reserved for,” I said. I pulled out two gold and put them on the table.

  “Separate rooms, huh? I’ve been there myself,” the lad said with a stifled fake laugh. He was trying too hard. Maybe seventeen. Or early eighteen. “Name’s Jark, and that’s my sis, Tarla. Are the extra drinks for us?”

  “For an interview, yes,” I said with authority. Or at least tried to sound impressive and official.

  I doubted my bravado would last long even if Bell said to be the no nonsense man.

  This garnered Jark’s attention while Tarla placated Treb. The moment three ales hit the bar, she excused herself, giving me a warm smile.

  “Who’s the handsome fella?” she asked, and I frowned. “What? Did you upset your missus?”

  “Yes, and not my missus. We just killed four… Um… landsharks. Sorry, new to adventuring,” I said. They stared at me blankly. “Black, slimy, and rows of black teeth. Roam in packs.”

  “Wow, I even jumped in the river to entice them but got nothing,” Jark said, and I winced inside.

  Maybe that’s how folks died to the slow creatures. They stealth behind their prey and then cut off escape made sense, and then there were people like Jark.

  “My partner is selling them as we speak. I’m a healer. Call me Damien,” I said, extending my hand. Jark clasped my forearm. Tarla offered me her hand to kiss, and I shook it, puzzling her. “What type of mages?”

  “I’m a lightning mage, that lady is a firecracker. I’m a four, she’s a three. Main class upgrades get expensive and we’ve been here a month. Best we got so far is a large eagle. You hiring?” Jark asked.

  “Pay is shit, the loot is an even split, though, and the journey is treacherous. The good news is, if you die, I revive you,” I said with my best smile.

  Tarla let out a low whistle. “Healers are an uppity lot, and you don’t seem uppity.”

  “I know, I happen to appear older than I am and due to a sheltered life, I’m only a level two healer, not exactly a hot commodity. But me and Lady Caity are needing experience and loot. This is the dangerous kind of trip that most will avoid,” I said directly.

  Jark rubbed the back of his neck. “Like beyond that map?” he asked, pointing to a map on the back wall between a male and female bathroom.

  I left my barstool, ale in hand. The map showed Tarb and Yew Wood on the left, and in the middle rested Tafo. Mountains to the north, forest to the east. A danger line saying strivian territory bordered the outside of the map.

  Returning to my seat, I saw Tarla and Jark had swapped. It was important for me to note every woman in the bar was fit and young, meaning finding attractive women wouldn’t be tough, and I needed to shut her down. Plus, Bell was prettier than them all.

  I shifted to sit by Jark.

  “Look, I’m not in the market, not saying you aren’t pretty, I just need to play it slow. You trying to woo me won’t help your chances, and while I want you to join us, you should avoid this journey,” I said.

  “Where exactly are you going? I simply want to sit here so the others who try to have sex with me for money leave me alone. They know we’re broke,” Tarla said, patting the seat beside her.

  A big plate of steaming rice cakes arrived.

  They both eyed me for permission. Donnie slapped two keys down along with my change. I thanked him and started eating in front of them. I never gave them permission, and they didn’t ask.

  Finally, I caved, handing them one each.

  “Look, like I said, I need the help, but before I treat you like a charity case by feeding you and giving you ale, what’s your story?” I asked.

  “Jark, you wanna take this one?” Tarla asked, heading to the ladies room. A few lingering eyes followed her from the crowd.

  Jark scooted closer and said, “We’re from Sasin.” He noticed my lack of recognition. “It’s between the capitol and Litroo. We grew up in a unique home. Most wealthy men keep a mistress. The ladies like to be spoiled, and the men like the ladies. Well, our father had many mistresses which led to many siblings, and he took them all in with rotating mothers. At fifteen, our dad kicked us out with our mother’s approval.

  “He inherited his fortune from the pre-mist days and refused to give up a single coin to us or any others, insisting we make our own mark upon this world. We went to Litroo and joined a starter guild with a healer. Every single time we finally had a bit of savings beyond equipment, upgrades, and cost of living, one of us died. The guild used the healer as a proxy and his resurrections were not free.

  “We both got sick of dying to the strivians. There’s always a new flavor of death when you charge in looking for a fight. Plus, we were young and desperate. We’re not the only youthful adventurers testing the strivian lands to earn fortune and fame.

  “None of that happened. By seventeen, we went to Sasin, and she burned shit to keep us off the streets. I took any job I could and hated it. No one needs a lightning mage in a city, meaning I had the worst jobs. After a few months of this, we both reflected on what was better, and we decided that adventuring just made more sense.”

  “I don’t get why you’re broke then,” I said.

  He patted his body and glanced over his shoulder to see Tarla rejoining us.

  “My body is not broken,” he replied. My English of broke did not register correctly to him. “Got him up to us arriving in Tafo. Almost. We figured going north would be best, and we did get a few lucky catches on the way here from Sasin.”

  “Broke as in out of coins, sorry,” I said. “Why is Tafo not working for you both?”

  Tarla sat between us, smelling of lavender with her hair neater than before. Bags under both their eyes told me they lacked a good night's sleep, but she had still tried to pretty herself up for me.

  “We wanted something different than Litroo,” Tarla said. “Everything in the south is fast paced. Every time we, as in the human forces, garner a gain, a new threat rushes to beat back our advances. The constant tide of battle only leaves a few fortunate and most dead.

  “Hunting seemed more profitable than attempting to raid a goblin village, or clash against mounted trollkin. Our theory was correct and incorrect. This is the final outpost, and we spent a good year scouring the land before arriving.

  “Honestly, I think we just had great luck. We killed a falcon, climbed the tree, and found four chicks. That was enough for what - six months?” she asked and Jark nodded. “Then Jark started dating a widow at Matri. Her brother hired me on as the team that dried up the water washing on the streets. Things went smooth until he got grabby. We left one morning when Jark was thrown out.”

  The young man shrugged, trying not to let it show that it had hurt him.

  “We used traps the next few months and made ends meet. Trying to get the next big score, we headed out here, and it's as if our luck dried up because nothing has gone our way,” Tarla said. “What is your mission? Be honest, please.”

  Her batting eyelashes highlighted her piercing brown eyes. Tarla’s cute smile probably lured in plenty of men, and I had to resist her charms.

  “We’re leaving King Karn’s realm. That’s the plan, at least. B
ut we may earn a whole lot of Z and turn back,” I said nonchalantly.

  The duo deflated.

  “Your partner, what is she?” Jark asked.

  “I’m a water mage,” Bell said, arriving from behind me. “Who’s the cute kid?”

  “I’m a man,” Jark said.

  Bell bent over his space, stealing his drink. “Maybe,” she teased.

  The moment she set the ale back down, I could see Jark’s face enthralled by Bell’s beauty.

  Tarla groaned, noticing it too.

  “Bell, this is Jark and Tarla, a lightning mage and fire mage,” I said and then asked, “How’d it go?”

  “I had to buy a third pack for all the new gear. They paid extra for the lacvra due to a local bounty. I wish we’d gotten the alpha. Oh well. Anyway, we’re set, I even got myself a sword and replaced yours. Oh, and a lady’s bow,” Bell said, sitting between the twins. “Are they coming?”

  “We were just getting to the fact we’re leaving the kingdom and that it’s just us with decent supplies,” I said, handing her the rest of my food. Bell accepted with one hand. I noticed her hand went to Jark’s thigh. “We could really use a lightning mage. It would make my water golems useful.”

  Tarla scooted closer to me, and I huffed. I didn’t want division to increase between Bell and me. We technically would be partners for a long time. However, she was a grown woman and a priestess of the goddess of temptation.

  We needed help, and I needed to compartmentalize my feelings.

  Tarla decided to randomly pivot. She left the bench and went to her brother’s side.

  “When are you wanting to leave?” Tarla asked Bell.

  Jark said, “The strivian lands aren’t what we’re wanting to brave.”

  “Shame, really,” Bell said. “Key, please.”

  I handed Bell her room key.

  I decided to make an offer. “Two gold each, even split on loot,” I said.

  “A quarter of nothing is nothing, and we can die,” Tarla said.