Isekai Magus: A LitRPG Progression Saga

by Han Yang

  “She stuffed three-weeks of power into that jar and tried to kill you with it. If I had to guess, her plan was to get close to you with the poisoned blade we found on her then drop the device. Instead, when she opened it, the energy just flung a lot of us all over the place, including herself. She broke her neck on that rock,” Nee said, pointing to one of the rocks that elevated the fire.

  “Good, she always gave me the creeps,” Tarla said and then she scoffed. “I know you slept with her. This was different.”

  I shrugged. “Thank you for clarifying, and yeah, we have a long road ahead of us and letting people close will be tough. We did thwart her efforts, though. Now, two things left to figure out,” I said with a grunt. “Where is Bell? And how is Asha doing? Watch over me, please.”

  I laid down on the deck, letting the snow fall onto me. My spell let me quickly project out of my body, and I swerved toward the silo.

  A few seconds later, I was in the tunnels, seeing Asha standing in front of a collapsed section.

  I entered a skeleton's body, tapping him on the shoulder.

  “Uh… welcome back. I have good news and bad. I lost a lot of troops, but the enemy grew cautious as we started yanking away orange blades. I don’t think they were expecting a drawn out fight against a foe with crossbows. And then… you raised some of their dead right at a pivotal point,” Asha said.

  I gave a thumbs up, and he replied with a terse nod.

  “After the trained ones fell from some crazy spell, a big bloke that the others called Rexa took over. He used his mages to explode our front lines and brought down the roof. Or maybe they wanted to seal off their retreat,” Asha said with a shrug.

  I reached into my satchel and wrote. Rexa was the mayor of Yew Wood. He used enrage magic. I think they were retreating after the big spell. Which get above ground for a healing. The fight is over, meet me in the church in the morning so we can turn you into a princess. I’ll be done with the surrender here soon. I just need Bell now.

  “A princess?” He frowned at my joke. “Ah, that odd human humor. Thanks for keeping your word. My people won’t let me near them as a living undead, so I’ll sleep there then,” Asha said sadly.

  I left the skeleton, eager to find out if the camp hid my High Priestess.

  CHAPTER 75

  Tafo Outpost

  “Figured I’d see you here,” I said to Desra as the fire mage approached.

  The situation was tense. My army surrounded the camp. The defenders were exhausted soldiers who had returned from being defeated to find my undead army hot on their heels. And then the Necro Lord himself had shown up. I tended to leave people with sour expressions.

  A few hundred soldiers stood in front of circled wagons. Small fires flickered nearby, casting enough light. Desra neared, parting the concerned troops.

  She furled her brow. “I’m not in charge. And how did you know I’d be here?”

  “Rexa is leading the retreat underground back to Tarb,” I said with a winning smile. “Can you accept surrender terms?”

  Lady Yerif, the camp leader, scoffed. “You managed to hide in a blizzard and get by Toneba. We’ll never surrender.”

  A few of the defeated troops eyed her like she was crazy.

  “Power is derived from violence. Not just the threat, but the use as well. I will step out of your camp, and then we can fight if you so wish,” I threatened. “Clash swords to shields and stomp the snow.”

  The cacophony of undead sent a clear signal. I held the power, and I could literally make the ground quake upon command.

  “You’ll rot in six hells,” Lady Yerif said, but she softened her glare. Eventually, she huffed a large puff of misting air. “You want the witch, right?”

  “Nothing would make me happier,” I said in a joyful tone.

  “You’ll spare us?” Lady Yerif asked.

  I nodded and replied, “On the word of the Six, Caitlyn, and even Arax, my troops and minions will not harm you in exchange for my High Priestess.” She opened her mouth to speak, but I held up a finger. “I’ll not be penalized if a random ratkin kills ya or the cold claims the unprepared. And! My term is that we get the supplies when you safely reach Tarb. The alternative is that I kill you all, use a god to revive Bell, and take it all anyway. You really have no choice.”

  Desra cleared her throat and said, “Follow me.”

  “Wait, I haven’t accepted,” Lady Yerif complained.

  Desra shook her head as I followed her. “He can turn us all into the undead with the snap of a finger. Toneba is dead. Arax bet on his faithful surprising an army that doesn’t sleep or feel the cold. Join them or take the deal.”

  Lady Yerif seethed with rage. “You bitch! When did you become -”

  “You see the hundreds of battle-hardened warriors who stand around this man,” Desra interrupted. “He doesn’t walk into our camp with idle threats. We live or die at his whim. Accept the deal and we live. If you don’t…” She let the sentence hang.

  The warning was clear. The camp wanted to live, and the soldiers who had stood on edge tossed their weapons down. They put their lives in my hands and trusted I would honor my deal heard by the gods.

  “By the greatest of all gods - Arax - I accept your terms,” Lady Yerif said. “Not like you get much. We’re going to have deaths from freezing.”

  “I’m not the bad guy. There are humans in this camp who never took up arms against me. For them, my minions will build large fires and help them return home alive,” I said then commanded. “Chop down trees, collect wood, and build a hundred roaring fires.”

  Desra snickered and said, “See, Yerif, that is power. Blades that glow orange are not power.”

  “What are you even doing here?” I asked the woman I never thought I’d see again.

  “We received word that the minotaurs were invading. While uncommon, we had plenty of time to flee and kept going right by Tarb. We didn’t stop until Litroo, using the entire village to hunt a random surplus of ratkin. Was some good days.

  “When the battles ended and Tarb needed rebuilding, we returned to find Yew Wood unscathed. Tarb needed workers, and the rates were good enough - that as a village - we moved out. The plan was to rebuild Tarb this winter, and when spring sprung, head home,” Desra said with a huff.

  “Wait… this is the woman who ditched you?” Tarla asked, piecing it together.

  “Yeah, we had a difference and then made amends. So, how did you get tied up with Toneba? Oh, I found his wife by the way,” I said.

  “Yeah, Lady Bell figured it out as well. It really drove him mad with that bit of news. He wasn’t stable lately, obviously since this latest endeavor. We arrived in Tarb, fixed the walls, and were repairing the market when thirty-thousand humans from all over arrived to slay you.

  “The funny thing is that more than half stayed in Tarb, finding the new home too nice to abandon for an insane winter campaign. Then when Toneba came up with this mad scheme, only the truly crazy followed him out and into the snow.

  “When he found out so many were staying back, he turned to bribes. Well, I need Z, and fifty for a camp organizer, and a hundred and fifty for a seasoned warrior, meant a whole lot of Z. A lot of this army is devout, though. Only a few risked the mission because of the snow, and I was greedy,” Desra said.

  Wagons lined the outside of the camp, trying to tamper down the winds. A few of the tents had taken the time to shovel out the snow while others camped right on top of it. Only a few fires flickered light in the night, a fact that already was changing as lidka and centaur skeletons added branches.

  I wagged a finger at her as we passed the poorly setup camp. “I owe you twenty-seven Zorta.”

  “Z, it’s Z, Damien,” Desra replied.

  “I’m surprised you remembered my name. But, yeah, well, I call it both while most use Zorta. Where’s Bell?”

  “Right up here in Toneba’s tent. He… he fell in love with her, I think. He never took advantage of her while she was imprison
ed, from what I know anyway. So, what’s next for the great, Necro Lord?”

  “I’m afraid that’s a secret, but I’m not going to rape and pillage the area,” I admitted.

  I liked Desra, but her and those following us, didn’t need to know the truth.

  An expansive tent held guards around the exterior. They nervously clutched weapons. Lady Yerif confidently strode ahead of us, scolding the soldiers until they sheathed their weapons and stepped away.

  My guards secured the inside, holding the flap open for me.

  I waltzed into the tent to find Bell seated at a desk drafting a note. She smirked from ear to ear as Tarla and I entered.

  “Well, took ya long enough,” Bell said in a sarcastic way.

  “I apologize, my Lady. I had… errands to run that delayed me,” I retorted. “I need sheep’s milk and a dozen duckling eggs.”

  “You’re smart, Damien. Not overly witty, though,” she said with a growing grin.

  Tarla left my side, opening her arm. Bell set her quill into the ink pot and rose, embracing Tarla.

  Tarla stopped her and said, “I have to be certain, and I hope you understand.” She reached into Bell’s robes and touched her bellybutton. “Bell Moonguard, thank the goddess we found you.”

  The duo kissed each other’s cheeks a few times before putting foreheads together.

  “I missed you,” Bell said, stifling a tear.

  “I missed you too,” Tarla said, emotion roiling through her words.

  “I - I - I never lost faith in Caitlyn or her champion. Even when my mother betrayed me and our goddess stopped answering my calls,” Bell said, and I winced. She waved me over. “You never would betray me, would you?”

  I shook my head and said, “I feel terrible. I should have banished Nessio or killed her. Or, more importantly, just never accepted the conditions and moved into uninhabited areas. It was so easy that way. And she betrayed us. You…

  “I trusted you on that very first day I met you. I had to. It was a sink or swim moment. When I was at my most vulnerable, you proved loyal to your goddess and therefore me. That was trust earned. A trust that drove me through countless bodies until I reached this moment.”

  “Get in here for a hug, big lug,” Tarla said, and we embraced.

  A long moment later, we parted, exchanging warm smiles.

  “Who’s the letter for?” I asked.

  “Toneba’s wife,” Bell said with a sigh. “He was a misguided soul. His devotion to hating the cataclysm was never in question, especially when he picked Arax over Mariee.”

  “I have bad news about your mother… maybe not as bad as her betraying you,” Tarla said.

  “She blew us up with an air bomb, but for once Tarla didn’t die,” I said, accepting the slug on my arm.

  Tarla leveled a finger at me in a playful warning.

  “I wish I could have warned you not to revive her. When Caitlyn didn't free mother, she stopped praying to her. Then she lost her boons, and that had her abandoning our goddess. I was never privy to the planning, but I figured that when she vanished she was going to be part of some plan to kill you,” Bell said with a sigh.

  “You seem to be holding together really well,” I said, gazing down at my friend.

  Bell nodded, her hazel eyes filled with sadness. “This sucked for the first few weeks, and I wanted to die a few times during the torture. However, once mom broke, and I gave them everything I knew, things changed. I did have to alter a woman into a troll. That was weird, but I was able to find out a few neat things about divine magic. I lied to Toneba and Prince Tao. I can edit stats, races, and all that information. And no, my stats are not altered, but they can be.”

  “Wait…” I said as a realization washed over me.

  If I could hide my points, my necromancy, and...

  “Yeah,” Bell said. “If we want to retire somewhere and blend in, I can do that. That was what got the last Head Priestess killed, by the way. She was washing away the sins of the rich until they convinced her to work for them and not Caitlyn, or so she said. Do you know what happened to our goddess?”

  “She’s hurt and recovering, slowly but surely. It’s a long tale for a point in time where we're comfy with warm blankets and a nice wine,” I said.

  “Or ale,” Bell said with a snort. She held up a finger, heading to a chest at the foot of the bed. She filled the lid open, grabbing a few stacks of parchment. She brought them over and unrolled one for me. “Ten thousand refugees arrived in Litroo.” Bell opened the next, and Tarla opened another. “Twelve thousand refugees arrived in Litroo, sent to Tarb.”

  “This one says Fraunt is unable to take more refugees and needs help,” Tarla said.

  Bell pointed to the rest of the parchment. “Something is coming, and it's big,” she said with concern.

  “Bell, this was just the beginning. I’m not going home, as of recently, I don’t think I’m allowed to. I'm going to make a new home, for all of us, and that big threat - well, it’s standing in our way,” I said with a heavy tone.

  “You don’t want to conquer Tarb and instead go into danger?” Bell exclaimed.

  “Yes. I’m still on the fence about letting Asha go, but besides that, our mission is clear. We head south to find a permanent home. One with views and ocean waves. More importantly I’m the one the ratkin swarm should be afraid of. I’ll stop at nothing to protect my friends and family. We’re going south in the middle of winter, and the enemy will learn to fear us,” I said.

  “For Tribe Moonguard,” Tarla echoed.

  “For Tribe Moonguard and her goddess,” Bell said, and we left the tent knowing so much was left to be achieved.

  TO BE CONTINUED…

  Afterword

  Well, hot damn. I’m a rollercoaster of emotions myself at the moment. I… This is a significant amount of my life invested to reach this milestone. I started with steampunk, which there will be a sample of the sister book (Reborn as a Baron Lord) after these words.

  The thought process was, I want a story that is a bit less straight forward, and a tad bit more epic fantasy. You’ll journeyed with Damien and experienced a whole new world. I’m truly honored you made it this far and have faith you’ll dive right into book 2 that I start working on in a few days.

  I’m a work-a-holic, unnaturally so. I pass through the manuscript at least a dozen times, trying to create something that shines, but, of course, issues slip through. If you notice something or want to say hi. You can find me on that place known as facebook at https://www.facebook.com/han.yang.79069323/

  The dreaded asking for help. 2 things. Follow me on amazon. Leave a review. There, I said it and sorry I had to badger. Smash that follow button, type out 15 words saying For Tribe Moonguard.

  What’s next?

  Glad you asked. I’m going to do some editing on baron lord. Cutting out some passive in active scenes and then right onto book 2.

  Book 2 you say!?

  Yes, quite right. Damien is in an awkward spot. What does he do with Asha? Does he become as foolish as Toneba and march in the middle of winter? Will he fight the ratkin swarm or will he diver to a new area that is easier to conquer, and let the others deal with the invasion? So many questions, so many adventures left to be had.

  Where’s the audio?

  Well, it’s on youtube as I write this, and hopefully on audible for a while before going back to youtube. Short term everything will help me recover the costs of covers, editing, and narrating and then become free to the general public. At least that is the intent but it may take years to reach that point.

  Where’s your patreon? Take my money!

  Umm… on the fence. There are times where I don’t produce for long periods. So it wouldn’t seem fair to take a 3 month break while having folks paying me for nothing. Writing is a love, and I try not to make too much of a job.

  Once again, thank you for reading, have a great day/night/evening/week/weekend and I hope you try out this sampler and book 2.

&n
bsp; You can find other great books and resources for reading in this genre at these two wonderful groups.

  https://www.facebook.com/groups/LitRPGsociety

  https://www.facebook.com/groups/LitRPG.books

  Cheers.

  SAMPLE OF REBORN AS A BARON LORD

  Note from the author: These books are in the same universe. Gearnix is mentioned in Isekai Magus (IM) and Ginli is a key character in the book. Zozo is Fero the goblin in IM. I had the pleasure of booking both Ginli and Zozo in their audio parts by the talented folks who played them in this book. So I love this Six Gods One Creator Six Planets universe and how they intertwine. I hope you enjoy this free sample and shift on over to reading that book.

  CHAPTER 1

  “I hate it when they come to me scrambled.”

  Fingers snapped inches from my nose, causing my eyes to cross. I shifted in confusion, inspecting the room I unexpectedly found myself in.

  I glanced around, finding a steel table, a single light overhead, two chairs, no door, and no windows.

  Um… Where the hell was I?

  “I’m a god.”

  My head tilted with a soft chuckle exposing my lips. “Sure buddy.”

  The problem was, he could be right. I should be asleep in my small suite in Chelmsford, Mass. The night had been a bust.

  A few drinks, a strike out with some lonely divorcee, and a few more beers in solace with my cat. After that, I watched a dino flick that lulled me into snoring on the couch.

  None of that scenario translated to being locked inside a panic room with some young go-getter in an expensive suit.

  The college kid smirked, running a hand through his well-groomed brown hair. When his hand was free of his locks - poof, like magic - a folder materialized, clutched firmly in his grip. He slammed the paperwork down.

  My name was imprinted on the cover.