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

by Seth Ring

  Nodding, Thorn made his way to the front of the group, his eyes sweeping the hill in front of them. As he walked by Velin, Akira ran down his arm and jumped onto her shoulder. The Spirits that OneArrowKiller had spotted were not visible in the swirling mist so Thorn flexed his claws and waited for SmilingBandit’s order. Boon stood a few steps behind him on his right, and SmilingBandit took the mirrored position on his left.

  Behind him, OneArrowKiller frowned and moved around, trying to find a good angle that would allow him to shoot around Thorn’s bulk, finally settling on a spot behind Boon. Once everyone was in position, SmilingBandit gave the command and they began to make their way up the hill. Taking it slow, Thorn scanned the mist as he went, at the same time listening for the archer’s direction from behind him.

  “There are two straight ahead, one off to the right at about two o’clock.”

  Adjusting the direction he was facing slightly, Thorn advanced toward the one o’clock position and three spirits soon became visible. Vaguely humanoid, the spirits were a dark grey color, making them hard to spot in the mist. A slight, sickly green tint shone from their eyes and the hole in their heads that Thorn could only assume counted as their mouth from the way it opened wide as each spirit spotted him.

  With a hissing scream they rushed forward, their forms hunched and their amorphous arms outstretched. A quick step forward created some space behind Thorn so that he could make sure the spirits focused on him. Lifting his claws, he swiped an arm in a wide arc across his body, catching one of the spirits squarely in the chest while he thrust his other hand at the other two spirits. As his claws slashed across the ethereal spirit’s chest, it let out a sound like a balloon leaking air and collapsed into a small pile of ashes.

  The other two spirits drifted back to avoid Thorn’s palm attack before lurching forward with attacks of their own. Their arms reached forward, as if they wanted to press themselves into Thorn’s body.

  “Watch out, they’re trying to possess you!” SmilingBandit warned Thorn as he sent his sword at the spirit on the left, the blessed blade leaving a golden trail in the air as it stabbed forward.

  At the same moment an arrow flew between Thorn and SmilingBandit, slicing through the head of the last spirit. Following directly behind it were two more arrows, shot with OneArrowKiller’s [Triple Shot] ability. The arrows from the powerful attack landed on the spirit’s head, neck, and chest, melting the spirit away under the golden glow radiating from the arrowheads. Seeing that his spirit was the only one that was left, SmilingBandit frowned slightly and increased the speed of his attacks.

  [Multi-Cut]

  His long sword flickered, appearing to slice into the spirit in three different places at the same time. With a wailing hiss the spirit was reduced to ashes under the power of the attack. The blessing that Velin had placed on their weapons was highly effective against the spirits, the golden glow consuming the spirit’s forms whenever it touched them.

  “Nice! That’s what I’m talking about.” With a pleased expression on his face, SmilingBandit looked at the three spirits that had died. Though these were by far the weakest of the spirits that inhabited the Barrow Hills, the ease with which they had fallen gave him a lot of confidence. The rest of the fights would be more difficult but at least they had proven they could handle the spirits.

  “Three more spirits drifting in this direction.”

  Shaken out of his thoughts by OneArrowKiller’s words, SmilingBandit looked over at Thorn.

  “Thorn, are you good? How comfortable are you tanking now that you’ve fought them? Well, I guess it wasn’t really much of a fight. But you understand what I mean. That attack at the end is called Spirit Possession and will force you into a confounded state. Its effects vary, but you might just stand still, or you could even attack us. How do you feel with this? Are you still good?”

  Thorn, sifting through the ashes of the spirit that had died to his claws, gave SmilingBandit a thumbs up and stood, dusting his hands off. The spirits had an unsettling aura around them, but their attack at the end had not phased Thorn thanks to his [Titan’s Strength] racial ability. When both spirits attacked, Thorn saw the red notifications at the edge of his vision and knew that his race had made him all but immune to the spirits.

  As he continued to move forward under OneArrowKiller’s direction, Thorn could not help but wonder about everything that had led him to this point. Not being able to speak had given him a lot of time to think about his situation and to reflect on his time in Nova Terra. Due to the time dilation that Nova Terra employed, very little time had passed in the real world where his body was being reconstructed. At the same time, he was another year older and would soon turn 18.

  The complicated interaction between the accelerated time inside Nova Terra and the comparatively slow time that people experienced in the real world had been the subject of much debate when the virtual reality technology had first appeared. As people experienced the time dilation over longer periods, it became apparent that time spent in Nova Terra did, in fact, add to a person’s mental age.

  Catching sight of the next group of spirits emerging from the mist, Thorn rushed into their midst, Boon following him two steps behind. The Raging Barbarian had been quite annoyed to see that Thorn had one-shotted his target during the last fight and wanted to make sure that he was able to get some attacks in this time.

  Amused, Thorn got the spirits’ attention and then focused on defending himself while Boon smashed about with his blessed club. The spirits’ attacks bypassed much of Thorn’s armor but were unable to pass through his greyish skin, giving him the feeling that frozen feather dusters were being dragged across his body wherever a spirit’s attacks landed. Each time a spirit’s flailing arms hit him, Thorn saw notifications for both [Titan’s Strength] and [Titan’s Endurance] pop up.

  Letting Boon deal with the spirits, Thorn dodged an attack and sank back into thought. It had taken him a while to understand just how strong his racial abilities were, but now that he had gotten his head around it, he was slightly concerned.

  Mina often teased him about how charmed his in-game life seemed to be, and at first Thorn had been able to shrug it off with a laugh. But the longer he lived in Nova Terra and the more he interacted with other players, the more apparent it was that his experience of the game was drastically different from other people’s. Whether it was the advantages of a unique race or the quests that seemed to have fallen out of the sky onto his head, he found himself a bit overwhelmed.

  Glancing back at Velin, Mina, and Baxby who were guarding Princess Rychell, Thorn could not help but shake his head. His three companions were arguably among the best players in the game, and it was not limited to them. Nova Luna was filled with incredible players and was gathering even more at an unbelievable rate. Any guild in the game would be lucky to have even a single Avatar, yet his guild had three. Then there was this quest with the Ironhold Duchy.

  Busy thinking about everything that was going on, Thorn thrust out his hand absently, reducing a spirit that had peeled off from the group to try and attack Boon’s back to ash. His eyes flickering, he saw that the rest of the team had everything in order and thumbed through his active quests.

  He currently had quite a few active quests, and was also assisting on Velin’s quest to find the world tree.

  Quest: Returning to the Source - Assist

  Quest Holder: The history of the Elves is shrouded in the deepest mists of time, obscured by the steady march of centuries. As an Elven War Priestess, you have been chosen as a potential bearer of the highest honor an Elf can hold. Find the source of life on Angoril to learn the truth of the Elven race.

  Assistant: Help the Elven War Priestess who holds this quest find the source of life on Angoril.

  Reward: [Unknown]

  Unlike Velin who held the actual quest, Thorn’s version of it would provide an unknown reward upon completion. Since the quest was an ancient inheritance, Thorn would spare no effort to make sur
e that Velin completed it with flying colors. Despite their rough start, Velin had shown through her actions that she took her friendship with Thorn very seriously, and Thorn was determined to honor that, even if it meant delaying finding a cure for the [Living Statue] curse.

  Gladiator’s Glory - Ongoing

  There is glory in combat and it is in the arenas scattered around Angoril that warriors prove themselves stronger than their foes.

  You have won your first fight in the Maandell arena, granting you the title [Gladiator]. Win 10 matches in any arena to unlock the title [Powerful Gladiator] title. Win 10 matches in 10 different arenas to unlock the title [Elite Gladiator] title. Win 100 matches in any arena to unlock the title [Heroic Gladiator] title.

  Reward: Title - [Gladiator] (completed)

  Reward: Title - [Powerful Gladiator] (locked)

  Reward: Title - [Elite Gladiator] (locked)

  Reward: Title - [Heroic Gladiator] (locked)

  The gladiator quest that he had activated in the arena was an ongoing quest that seemed to be quite common, so he dismissed it and looked at the quest for the Ironhold Duchy.

  Heir to the Ironhold

  Advanced in age yet heirless, the Ironhold Duke is looking for someone to carry on his impressive legacy. After spending the prime years of his life fighting alongside the emperor, the Ironhold Duke was tasked with controlling the forges of the empire. Now ready to retire and live out his days in comfort, the duke wants an heir that can protect the empire from external and internal threats.

  Requirements:

  Meet the Ironhold Duke: 0/1

  Impress the Ironhold Duke: 0/3

  Become an Earl: 0/1

  Prove your strength in battle: 0/1

  Reward:

  Title: Ironhold Duke

  Area: Ironhold Duchy

  When Thorn had first stepped into Nova Terra he had imagined that his life was going to be spent hunting creatures and exploring the forests and hills. Yet here he was, less than a year into the game, the owner of a massive fortress, the ruler of an entire race, the Avatar of an ancient god, and a leader of a rapidly growing guild. If someone had told him before he started his adventure in Nova Terra that he would be fighting for the position of Duke of Northern Angoril, he would have laughed in their face.

  Yet here he was. The unbelievable path that led him to this point felt a bit too convenient for his liking, leaving Thorn with an uncomfortable feeling in his chest. Though his situation in the real world had sheltered him from many experiences, he was not so naive as to think that he was really just lucky. The nagging feeling that something bigger was going on behind the scenes had been growing ever since he had fought off Ouroboros at the entrance to Moon Wolf Citadel. His life had been rocketing down a path with one quest leading into the next, leaving him feeling like it was all out of his control.

  Feeling something cold pushing against his chest, Thorn looked down at the spirit that was smashing its fists into his chest plate ineffectually. Reaching down casually he grabbed it and squeezed. Behind him, the Elves looked at each other in complete shock as Mina giggled and Velin gave a self-satisfied smile.

  “I told you we’d be fine.”

  Oblivious to the conversation behind him, Thorn looked over his last three quests.

  Missing Titans

  Before the Era of the Gods, Titans walked Angoril. Unmatched in both battle and arts, the Titans were masters of whatever they put their hands to, yet almost overnight they vanished, leaving nothing but giant ruins and dim records of their existence. According to the ancient myths of the Wolfkin, the Titans ruled over all creatures and were the gods’ contemporaries.

  Discover what happened to the Titans and why they disappeared.

  This quest cannot be turned down.

  To some degree, this was the quest that Thorn was the most interested in, as it peaked his interest for lost and ancient knowledge. Still, he had no idea how to go about it, so he just put it aside, assuming that he would stumble into some way to progress in the quest.

  Quest: An Ancient Priestess - Updated

  Led to a ruined temple by a giant wolf, you have discovered a woman in white who claims to be the high priestess of Hati. She appears to be trapped in a magical prison.

  Mayari has asked you to free her. To free Mayari you must unlock the magical circle by entering it with the Ring of the Wolf Lord.

  Maugrim, the Alpha of the Children of the Moon, claims that Mayari is the former priestess of Hati, and requests you kill her. To defeat her, she must first be released from her enchanted prison.

  Reward: Children of the Moon

  Quest: The Lost Princess - [Hidden Quest]

  You have saved the Elven Princess, Rychell Naevyre, from a life worse than death. Having escaped from the slave markets and the city of Maandell, Princess Rychell seeks to return to her home city of Thilvena.

  Escort the Princess home.

  Reward: [Hidden]

  Both of these quests simply added to Thorn’s feeling that someone or something was guiding him toward a specific goal. He could tell from the way that the gods and their avatars interacted that there was much more to Nova Terra than a simple game world where people could pass the time. But what specifically was going on was still behind the curtain.

  After all, what were the chances that he would randomly run into the Elven princess while escaping a city that had fallen into chaos? And for him to conveniently find a way to cure his curse that led him to this island just in time to save her? The coincidences were simply too many for him to just explain away. As he shot a glance at Princess Rychell, Thorn was shaken out of his thoughts by the sound of Baxby’s voice.

  “Bad news, we’ve got people on our tail.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  Dispatching the last spirit with a well placed stab, SmilingBandit gestured for Thorn to keep an eye to the front and returned to where Baxby was standing with Mina, Velin, and the Elves, OneArrowKiller trailing behind him.

  “There are people on our trail already?” SmilingBandit frowned and glanced at OneArrowKiller.

  The Forest Warden concentrated for a moment before shrugging helplessly.

  “My abilities don’t work that far. It has taken us nearly two hours to get to where we are. It is not inconceivable that the team chasing us would have arrived at the edge of the Barrow Hills. But I can’t confirm anything, the fog reduces the range of my spells.”

  “Believe me, they’ve arrived. And outrunning them will be a serious problem.” Baxby looked back the way they had come. “I set down some alarm spells at the spot where we entered the mist and they have all been triggered.”

  “That’s okay, we’re two hours ahead, so long as we keep advancing we should be able to beat them out of the hills.” SmilingBandit rubbed his nose. “With Thorn here we are making really good progress.”

  “Sure, but we still have to fight and they don’t.”

  “Not only that, but the deeper we get, the denser the mobs. We’ve been taking longer and longer to clear the groups.” Mina chimed in, reinforcing Baxby’s point.

  “So what do we do?”

  “We’ll have to try and throw them off our scent.”

  Walking over, Thorn waved his hand to get Velin’s attention.

  *We go back. We go right.*

  After a few minutes of pantomiming what he was trying to communicate, realization dawned on Velin’s pretty face and she explained to everyone else.

  “If we go back the way we came and veer off, we’ll start clearing a new path. Hopefully, the team chasing us will miss the turn off and proceed to this point. If we can do that, we’ll be able to confuse them.”

  “Oh, because they’ll use the lack of any enemies to track us! That makes perfect sense.” OneArrowKiller slapped his leg.

  “Uh, I don’t get it.” Boon said with his hand raised.

  “The team behind us will track us by following the path of no enemies. If enemies appear on their right or left, they’ll know
they are straying off of our path and can correct their direction. But if we back track, then they’ll hopefully follow our original path and will end up here. That would force them to check both sides of the whole path until they find where we turned off.”

  “Oooh. I see.” Boon stroked his chin as he nodded. Turning away, he grimaced and shook his head at Thorn who could tell he still did not get it.

  “I think that is our best plan. Alright, let's move as quickly as we can. We’re tempting fate by heading straight toward our enemy.” SmilingBandit gestured for Thorn to take point again and the team ran back the way they had come.

  Thorn led the way as they quickly retraced their steps. After ten minutes of running, OneArrowKiller pointed to the side and told Thorn to take a small, mist-covered path that wound its way between two tall hills.