Nova Terra: Guardian - A LitRPG/GameLit Adventure (The Titan Series Book 4)

by Seth Ring

  Nodding in agreement, Thorn’s brow furrowed and he pulled out a fresh sheet of paper.

  I’m also a bit worried about these large wolves that are being reported on the edge of the valley. This isn’t the first time we’ve heard reports about them.

  “Hmm. That has the potential to be a major time sink, but we could probably squeeze in a preliminary investigation.”

  How about I go take a quick look. I have to find Akira anyway, and from what I can sense, she is out that direction.

  “You know you can summon her, right?” Corvo asked, looking at Thorn strangely.

  True, but she might be with her family, so I would feel really awkward forcing her to come over here.

  “Hey, she is your pet. So you do what you want. Also, this waiting around for you to write is making the conversation drag. You should learn sign language or something.”

  Perking up, Thorn had the impulse to smack himself on the forehead. Sign language would be a perfect solution to his lack of speech. While it would require the people around him to learn some basic signs as well, he was pretty sure that they could quickly establish at least basic communication. Looking at Velin, he pointed to Corvo and gave a thumbs up.

  “That is a good idea. I will add that to the list.” Taking back her notebook, Velin wrote for a couple minutes. “Alright. We have four things to do. First, we’ll go over the plan for managing the valley while we are gone. Second, I will look up some basic signing while you, third, go and find Akira. While you are getting Akira, you’ll check out the large wolves. Fourth, once you’ve completed the challenge, we’ll establish who is coming with us to Rasyn. Sound good?”

  At the nods from the others in the room, Velin turned and bowed slightly to Peregrine who was still standing on the chair, listening with interest.

  “Please call the Emperor of the Sky first thing tomorrow morning. That way, Thorn has the morning to find Akira and deal with the wolves. You are welcome to stay in one of the rooms here at the fortress. Do you need anything for Roko? Food, or a space to rest perhaps?”

  “Thanks, but I’m good. Roko gets really nervous around lots of people so it is probably safer if I try to find a place up on the mountain. I’ll be back tomorrow, along with the Emperor.” Jumping neatly from her chair to the windowsill, the halfling gave out a piercing whistle before looking over her shoulder at Thorn. “I’m looking forward to seeing how you handle this, Lord Baron. It should be quite an exciting encounter.”

  As she finished her words she leapt out the window, landing neatly on the back of the Imperial Roc that flashed by. Giving the people in the office one last wave, she tightened her grip on the harness Roko was wearing. With a chirp the Imperial Roc accelerated suddenly, disappearing into the clouds surrounding the Twins within a moment.

  “What a showoff.” Corvo strode to the window to look out at the mountain peak. Turning around, he found everyone in the room staring at him disdainfully. About to ask what was wrong, he froze when Thorn pointed to him. Making a poofing motion with his hands, the Titan began to flap his hands like little wings and pretend to fly around the room.

  “Haha, exactly.” Oberlin, who had been listening quietly this whole time erupted into laughter at the sight of Thorn’s antics.

  “Yeah, yeah. Alright, I get it. That is really disturbing, so can you stop?” Corvo held up his hands in defeat as he watched the Titan pretend to fly around the room. “Velin, do you need anything from me before tomorrow? If not, I’ve got some work to do.”

  “No, we are done here. Thorn, you have until noon tomorrow to get Akira. Please try to be back around ten rather than twelve, as we don’t want to keep the Emperor of the Sky waiting. It sounds like it will be a challenging encounter, so it is probably better that we don’t start on the wrong foot.”

  His face becoming serious, Thorn nodded. If the initial attitude of Roko, the young Imperial Roc, was anything to go by then he would be facing a really tough situation. Her attitude had been one of absolute superiority, and it was obvious that her arrogance came from deep within her bones. Such an attitude was not conducive to making friends. If Thorn wanted to become friends with a fully grown Imperial Roc in a short time he was going to have to come up with some way to get past the creature’s innate arrogance.

  Mulling over the problem, Thorn listened to Velin’s last few notes and then set off to find Akira. The sun was just beginning to set, creating beautiful layers of deep blues and pinks that spread across the horizon. Nodding to the saluting guards as he walked out of the fortress, Thorn was surprised to see that the crowds had not lessened in the least. Instead, the mass of players had gotten denser.

  For a moment, Thorn was not sure how he was going to get through the crowd, but then a few of the players in front of him saw his massive figure and instinctively fell back. Like a wave, the crowd began to part as Thorn walked forward, many of the players pointing and whispering. Trying not to grimace, he hurried out of the citadel’s back gate, heading into the valley. As soon as he entered the valley, he broke into a run, his space-eating strides carrying him through the forest.

  Focusing on the subtle connection that he shared with Akira, Thorn ran across the valley floor. This was the first time he had been back in Fang Valley since he had established Moon Wolf Citadel at the valley’s entrance. Marveling at the way the game had expanded it, Thorn picked up his speed, his footfalls causing the ground to vibrate as he ran.

  CHAPTER SIX

  The trees blurred as Thorn ran across the valley floor. With the game’s expansion of the valley, the forests had grown as well. Towering trunks dwarfed even Thorn’s massive figure as he wove between them. It had not taken long for the sun to dip behind the mountains, casting long shadows across the forest floor. The shadows soon grew into deep pools, plunging the forest into darkness. Normally, even a pitch black night would pose no challenge for Thorn, but due to the [Living Statue] curse the night vision his abilities granted him was not working.

  Still, Thorn rushed forward, his lengthy strides devouring the distance. There was a freedom in running in the darkness that he relished. The sounds, sights, and smells of the world seemed muted. It was as if he ran through a dream, the only thing accompanying him being the steady beat of his feet hitting the dirt.

  As he ran, his mind wandered, drifting back over the last few months. His time in Nova Terra had rushed by. From defeating Ouroboros outside the gates of Moon Wolf Citadel to arriving at the capitol city and becoming entangled in the intrigues of the noble world, then came the frustrations of leading Nova Luna and trying to establish Moon Wolf Citadel and Fang Valley as a stable home for his guild and the Wolfkin.

  At first he had assumed that if he simply bought the citadel and gained the title of baron it would be enough. Reality had proved otherwise. Every time he encountered a new part of the game, the complexity shot up, forcing him to keep learning and adjusting the way he thought about the game. When he first entered Nova Terra everything had been relatively simple. Get a quest, hunt mobs, get a reward, and repeat.

  Encountering Mina and the others had blown all of that wide open. They brought Thorn into a new world, exposing him to some of the mysteries of Nova Terra and setting him on a path that was still stretching out before him. When he had just started, everything came easy for him. Even the fight against Ouroboros had not been an insurmountable challenge. It was not until the World Quest that he had run into an enemy he could not overcome. Sylith had shown him clearly that he still had much to learn before he would truly be able to compete with those standing at the top of Nova Terra.

  After running for an hour Thorn could sense that he was much closer to Akira. The mental connection that they shared brightened, strengthening until Thorn could feel the touch of his pet’s mind.

  [Master! Master!]

  Akira’s excited voice rang out in Thorn’s head, and her red, fluffy body soon appeared in his sight. Bounding from tree to tree, Akira launched herself from a branch toward Thorn. Smilin
g at the sight of his pet, Thorn lifted his arm, allowing her to land neatly on it. Akira scrambled up his arm to his shoulder and hugged his head as best she could. Her little limbs could barely get around his head so she climbed up on top of him and wrapped her tails around his neck so she could hang over his head and stare into his face. Looking at her upside down face, Thorn scratched behind her ears.

  [Master, you finally came to visit me! Did you bring me any snacks? You wouldn’t believe what I found! There are so many trees to explore, but I found the best ones and that is where my family is staying. But I was finding more trees for my cousin because he feels like he’s too old to live with his parents, even though I still live with my parents and it is perfectly fine, even though I am older than him. He says that it is because I am a girl that I have to stay with my mom and dad and that he is a boy so he is brave which is totally stupid so I beat him up.]

  Aware that Akira probably would not stop talking, Thorn got a pastry out of his inventory causing Akira’s nose to twitch. Instantly, her attention snapped to Thorn’s hand.

  [You did bring me a treat!] Waving her little paws excitedly, Akira took the snack from Thorn and sat up on top of his head. Standing in the forest with Akira on his head, Thorn’s forehead scrunched. Now that he had found her, he was not sure how he was going to communicate with her.

  [I wonder if Akira can read?] Thorn thought to himself.

  [Of course I can read.] Akira spoke between bites. [All Royal Ailuridae have to go to school for a whole year. It was terrible.]

  [Huh, that is convenient. At least I can write her messages.]

  [Oooh, I like messages! But I am really bad at writing, so I might just tell you what mine is going to say.]

  Stunned, Thorn plucked Akira off his head and looked at her in disbelief.

  [You can hear me?]

  [Of course I can, Master! How else are we supposed to talk? I can’t speak like you so I have to use my incredible magic powers. Did you know I have amazing magic?]

  When he concentrated, Thorn could sense that the mental connection he had with Akira was pulsing slightly with each of her words. Curious, he directed his thoughts toward the connection. The more he focused on it the brighter it grew until his mind seemed to bump up against it causing Akira to burst out laughing.

  [Ahahahaha. Stop, stop. Hahaha. That tickles!]

  Amused, Thorn fished another pastry from his inventory and, putting Akira on his shoulder, handed it to her.

  [So, what were you saying? What did you find?]

  [Oh, yeah! I found a bunch of giant wolves! Do you remember that giant wolf that tried to fight you before I scared it off? That guy has a bunch of lame henchmen and they are trying to take some of my trees.] Quickly polishing off the snack Thorn had given her, Akira clambered back up onto Thorn’s head and pointed toward the edge of the forest. [I had just found my cousin a great tree when the wolves came over and started barking about how it was theirs! Can you believe that?!]

  [Hmm. Do you know where they are coming from?]

  [I didn’t but then I got so mad because that stupid wolf was pretending to be so important, so I chased him back to his lair. I can show you the way!]

  Nodding, Thorn put on his helmet.

  [Great, lead on.]

  Through the darkness Akira led Thorn toward the edge of the forest, a small three tailed creature flitting through the night with a giant metal wolfkin following below. The tall trees slowly began to thin as the ground started to rise, leading up to the mountains that ringed the valley. Seeing that Akira had stopped, Thorn slowed down. Stopping underneath her, he looked out past the last few trees to where a half-ruined temple sat against the side of the hill.

  Two large wolf statues flanked the entrance, marking it as an old temple of Hati. Many of the walls had collapsed and a large stone pillar blocked much of the temple’s entrance. Taking it all in, Thorn frowned. He had heard nothing about a ruined temple in the valley. Just about to take a step forward, Thorn heard Akira hiss and the hair on the back of his neck stood up.

  Grateful that he had already equipped his armor, Thorn turned his head slowly to glance behind him. Crouched in the shadows, less than five feet from his back, was the massive wolf that Thorn had fought in the valley. Its thick, knotted muscles twitched under its glossy black coat and its yellow eyes glowed like lanterns in the darkness.

  The night breeze blew softly through the trees, the rustling of the leaves the only sound as Thorn and the giant wolf stared at each other. Mentally kicking himself, Thorn could not believe that he had not thought about the fact that they met no wolves on the way. From all the reports, it was obvious that the wolves were fierce about protecting the lands they had claimed, yet he and Akira had faced no difficulty in getting here.

  Judging the distance, Thorn ran through his options in his mind. The last encounter he had with the giant wolf had shown that it was faster than he was, and at this close range he was not confident that he could dodge if it attacked. Still, he had to do something. Just as Thorn was about to take the chance and turn around, a slight rustling alerted him and he froze. Emerging from the darkness on either side of him were other giant wolves.

  Though not as big as the black wolf at his back, these wolves were still much larger than the average wolf, dwarfing even the corrupted wolves that Nova Luna had been clearing from the valley. Surrounded, Thorn turned around slowly, facing the massive black wolf. Despite his hands being empty, the wolves stayed well back, seemingly afraid of his reach and the sharp claws on his gauntlets.

  Standing in the darkness of the forest surrounded by giant wolves, Thorn felt his lips curving into a smile. In silence they stood facing each other until the clouds above the valley parted and the silver light of the moon shone down through the sparse trees. His bronze armor illuminated, Thorn crouched ever so slightly.

  “Hmph.” With a snort, the giant black wolf stood up from its crouch, its head even with Thorn’s. Giving a short bark, the giant wolf swept its eyes over the other wolves that had surrounded Thorn. One by one the other wolves turned and stalked into the forest, quickly vanishing into the deep pools of darkness. Turning its glowing eyes back to Thorn, the giant wolf gestured with its head for him to follow and walked toward the temple. Unsure what had just happened, Thorn’s smile turned to a frown. Akira, unusually quiet, jumped down onto his shoulder and stared quietly at the wolf’s back as it passed them.

  “Are you coming?” The giant wolf’s voice was just as heavy as he remembered it. “There is someone you must meet.”

  Only hesitating for the briefest moment, Thorn followed the giant wolf. When they got to the temple up on the hill, the wolf jumped over the large stone pillar that blocked the entrance, its body flowing like a liquid shadow as it squeezed through the top opening. Not bothering to see how Thorn was going to get inside, it trotted into the dark tunnel. Barely three steps in, it heard a horrific grinding sound and spun around in surprise only to see Thorn causally removing the pillar.

  At least two feet in diameter, the section of the pillar in the doorway must have weighed well over a ton, yet after bracing his feet, Thorn simply picked it up. One of the ends was slightly stuck against the side of the door jam, but with a grunt he ripped it free and dropped it on the ground next to the door. Brushing off his hands, Thorn nodded to the stunned wolf. On his shoulder, Akira mimicked Thorn’s action, brushing off her hands as if she had just helped.

  As Thorn entered the ruined temple’s entrance the giant wolf took a step backwards. It had been just over a month since he had last encountered Thorn, but the Titan’s aura was completely different. Sneaking another glance at Thorn, the giant wolf turned and led the way into the darkness. The entrance to the temple was a long tunnel that led into the mountain. Thankfully for Thorn, the tunnel was not completely dark. Carved holes in the mountain let in tiny scraps of moonlight, enough for Thorn to see his way forward.

  Under his feet, Thorn could feel smooth flagstones and the small patches o
f light revealed the detailed construction of the tunnel. Curious, Thorn looked around him as he walked, almost missing the skeletons until the bones crunched under his feet. Startled, he paused. In the dim light, he could barely make out a few skeletons scattered around the hallway, rusted weapons leaning next to them. From the disarray, it was obvious that the skeletons belonged to warriors who had fallen in battle.

  [Akira, can you see what killed these people?] Unable to see clearly in the darkness, Thorn had to ask his pet.

  [Of course I can, master! I have great eyes.] Scurrying down Thorn’s armor, Akira clung to his thigh as she looked at the set of bones at his feet. [Master, it looks like there are some arrowheads in the body. One is stuck where his back bones connect to his ribs but on the inside.]