Aces High (Reality Benders Book #6) LitRPG Series

by Michael Atamanov

  Especially memorable was when I ran through a minefield. And no, the “carnival game of death” had not been made for me alone. Not at all. A large fenced-off part of the training camp had been given to the Sappers — they were learning there to set and remove mines of every shape and size. The other players then used the deadly area to train their Intuition, Danger Sense, Heavy Armor, Stealth, Light Foot, Regeneration and other skills. A few particularly nimble players were advanced enough to even level... Dodge! The intent of the task was simple to the point of primitive — by any means necessary, but as a rule depending on class and skills, they had to reach the opposite end of the explosion-plowed field. It came easiest to the Gladiators — a few instant leaps between safe positions (large boulders, fragments of concrete slabs or fresh craters made by recent explosions), and a couple no-longer-hazardous mines blasted off somewhere far behind them.

  The first time I worked with army of Earth troopers was actually on the minefield, though I was wearing the Null Ring for anonymity. How could my Listener overcome the harrowing area? At first it was obvious: use Scanning and disarm all the dangerous traps with my Machine Control and Telekinesis skills. But the problem was that I had just fifteen minutes to complete the task. My scanning radius was two hundred thirty feet, and the skill’s cooldown time was around five minutes, while the mined area was five hundred yards wide...

  I made it across in eleven minutes, relying on luck and intuition in a few confusing situations. In most places meanwhile, my high Perception and Eagle Eye skill allowed me to see exactly where the mines and other traps were, while a few dangerous objects I was actually able to detect by the smell of grease and combustibles. By the way, I was the only one in my whole thirty-person group to make it across the minefield alive.

  Authority increased to 111!

  “Alright, well done!” Fox praised me for the first time all day. “Although... the minefield is meant to be a team exercise, even though that was not explicitly stated. There were thirty of you and you had all the necessary professions and skills. If you played your cards right, you could have all survived, not just one of you. Think about that next time. And you can remove the Null Ring. Everyone in the camp is already aware the Kung is training alongside the others, so there is no longer any reason to hide it. The troops even know that you survived an assassination attempt and were severely poisoned, and that’s why you’re performing so poorly. And I see your Endurance bar has only gone up to forty-five percent... That’s my bad. Tomorrow I’ll have to ramp up the pressure.”

  I couldn’t hold back and let out a pained moan, already tasting the next round of torments. But my moan only elicited a satisfied grin on the insolent fox’s snout:

  “I warned you that you’d want to kill me. Just think how much worse it’ll be in three days! But for today, you’re free to go. Tomorrow you’ll have psionic training, and it would be nice if you could find one or a few mages to work with in a mental link. As far as I know, the pregnant Gerd Minn-O La-Fin will not be joining us. Valeri-Urla...” the Morphian didn’t finish, clearly having read my emotions. “Too bad. I’ve been wondering why she still hadn’t shown up on day three of training. And there are no other mages you trust enough to share your thoughts with. Okay then, you’ll work solo. By the way, there’s a human girl waiting at the gates of the training camp. She’s been there since morning. She’s too small to become a soldier in the army of Earth. But she’s also too stubborn to leave.”

  A RARE OCCASION — I guessed right away. The thing was that, of all the players I knew in the game, none of them were children except perhaps Tini. And my Miyelonian ward was no longer really so young. He was nearly an adult. Furthermore, he didn’t exactly fit the description of “human girl.” The mysterious Gerd Soia-Tan La-Varrez? In the letter she didn’t leave any contact details, so I had no idea how I was supposed to get in touch with her to tell her the place and time of our meeting. Furthermore, yesterday my Chief Advisor was unable to recall a mage girl by that name in the ranks of the La-Varrez dynasty, which made him come to the astonishing conclusion that she was still too young to have shown her face at any serious events.

  I was not mistaken. In the guardhouse at the entrance to the practice grounds, her legs crossed in a pretzel, was a light-haired girl sitting on a chair. She looked to be eleven or twelve and had the telltale ashen gray skin of a native of the magocratic world. By the way, this was the first time I had ever seen a person from the other world get a sunburn — every bit of skin on the child’s body not covered by her crop top and shorts was not so much ashen as rosy gray. And I could feel the pain she experienced with every little movement even from a couple steps away.

  Gerd Soia-Tan La-Varrez. Human. La-Varrez Faction. Level-55 Psionic Mage.

  “Why has this girl not been given medical attention?” I came at the two sentries, both members of the Relict Faction, but originating from my homeworld. I also could sense that the two guys were blatantly afraid of the little girl. Must have been because of her game class.

  “Uh we... We just came on shift! The little mage was already sitting here...” the two guys realized right after I asked that something was wrong with her. “We’ll call a healer from the first aid tent right away.”

  I shook my head doubtfully and refused. There was a Sio-Mi-Dori not far away, having just delivered another batch of recruits. It would take three minutes to fly to the spaceport, and my Medic was obviously more experienced and better qualified.

  “Run along to the antigrav, I’ll get you to a doctor,” I ordered. But much to my surprise she balked:

  “No, I’m not going anywhere. I need to see Kung Gnat La-Fin!”

  What a stubborn girl! I pulled the Null Ring off my finger, allowing the little mage to read my character information. Based on the way her brows shot upward, and those of the sentries as well, none of them were expecting that twist.

  “Well now you can say you’ve seen me. Now run along to the antigrav, we can talk on the way.”

  While the Pilot started up the engines of the heavy vehicle, I checked with my new acquaintance:

  “When will your relatives be coming to collect you? And where did you agree to meet them?”

  Her response knocked me dead:

  “They won’t be coming. I ran away. Coruler Gnat La-Fin, look at the requests to join your Relict Faction. There should be one from me.”

  “Wait, wait, wait! Pilot, cut the engines! The last thing I need is to be accused of kidnapping.”

  “No! Hear me out, Coruler! Going back to my family would be equivalent to death! My brother Sap-Po will kill me!!!”

  Geeeeee... The more I heard the less I understood. What could she possibly have done to draw the ire of her brother, who seemed so calm and even contemplative? And the fact this tyke had Gerd status also surprised me. I asked Soia-Tan to tell me everything to the best of her knowledge. And meanwhile I told the Pilot to fly to the spaceport anyway, because this girl clearly needed to see a Medic. And Soia-Tan could also stand to eat something — I heard sorrowful howling from her empty stomach.

  Well, she really was worth listening to. Soia-Tan turned out to be one of the most talented young mages the ancient La-Varrez dynasty of mage rulers had. Even her grandfather the Archmage and Coruler of Humanity Onuri-Unta La-Varrez had taken note of his granddaughter’s outstanding abilities and, despite her young age, had brought her into the game that bends reality. A rising star, the La-Varrez dynasty had pinned great hopes on her. Only her young age kept the talented kid from being named mage ruler. So far, as a mage, she had mainly done linked work — she was specialized in playing second fiddle to strengthen the main attacking mage, protect them and restore their mana in engagements.

  “You probably don’t remember, Coruler Gnat La-Fin, but during the night battle for the La-Varrez Faction capital hexagon, I was standing behind Leng Onuri-Unta La-Varrez among other mages and protecting the faction head.”

  To be honest, I didn’t notice. There were m
any mages in my opponent’s retinue at the time, and I was somehow paying more attention to the dangerous Archmage than his support. And meanwhile, the girl looked afraid I might find her uninteresting and cut her off and rushed to continue her tale.

  She had a blessed childhood with respect from everyone around her. The title of Gerd was hers by the time she hit level forty-five. But all her dreams of a grand future came crashing down with the terror attack on the Palace of Rulers. The most powerful mages of her dynasty perished, while those that remained were at each other’s throats quarrelling over the throne of the Fourth Directory. And they quarreled with such ferocity that the number of dead in the infighting was now even higher than the death toll of the palace explosion itself.

  Soia-Tan had spent a long time on the sidelines of those internecine squabbles, series of poisonings, late-night murders, and bombings of relatives’ virt pods. Still, she hadn’t stayed completely out of the game and just played dolls with her peers as you might think given her age. The opposite in fact. She was considered a powerful psionic and sent to fight the war against Tamara’s fanatic insurgent army.

  But just then came the most intriguing and harrowing part of her story:

  “One day, I saw our combat tiltrotors nab a column of rebels in the Au-Dau gorge. And I witnessed their slaughter with my own eyes. Tamara’s fanatics fought desperately. And they were well armed, too. They even had anti-aircraft systems. We sustained very heavy losses. Out of six aircraft, only two survived. But we eliminated all the enemies. And right there, among the tattered and scorched bodies, I saw her. Tamara the girl paladin. Your friend, Coruler Gnat La-Fin. And she was dead without a shadow of a doubt. Her body was in pieces.”

  That made my heart ache. So, Tamara was right when she predicted her own death at a young age, and when she foretold that she and I would never meet again. But words and vague predictions were one thing. Finding out my friend was actually dead was something totally different. She loved me and had shared nights with me. It hurt. I put the mirror faceguard of my helmet down so no one could see my tears.

  “We incinerated the corpses of the rebels, but Tamara’s body we loaded into a tiltrotor and hauled away. It is now at the Rosh-De-Vant military base in a cryocapsule. Only a few of my most loyal servants know what happened. And none of my relatives are aware of Tamara’s death. So when I heard from them that they saw the girl paladin at your side in the game, I gave it serious thought. And I realized it was my chance. At first, I must admit I wanted to blackmail you and demand you help me gain the throne of the Fourth Directory. But then...” Soia-Tan waved a hand fatefully and sighed heavily.

  The antigrav was already landing next to my frigate, but I was in no hurry to leave the aircraft. I looked sorrowfully at the glimmering lettering reading “Tamara the Paladin” on the hull of the starship and thought back on the person who would never be with me again. Finally, I broke the extended silence:

  “So, why did you leave your faction and why does your brother want to kill you?”

  “Well the thing is...” she started carefully planning what to say next, clearly intending to hide something. But then she breathed a heavy sigh and answered honestly. “Sap-Po and I are the closest direct heirs of the former ruler Onuri-Unta La-Varrez. Both of us have indisputable claims to the throne of the Fourth Directory. My brother is twice my age and that is the only reason my relatives supported him over me at the family council. But I... yes, I’ll be upfront, it was a stupid idea. But I tried to kill my brother. I didn’t think he could stand up to my mind control and tried to make him walk off a high balcony in the palace. But Sap-Po not only repulsed the attack, he could tell who was behind it. I only just had time to sneak away into the game that bends reality. I no longer have any way back home. Overall, it’s up to you, Coruler Gnat La-Fin. You can decide what to do with this information and with me. I am entirely at your mercy.”

  Now what was I supposed to do with this dangerous little troublemaker? Sending the girl back to her relatives would be a death sentence. Giving her official asylum meanwhile would have the La-Varrez dynasty up in arms. Then I could say goodbye to a peaceful conclusion of the crisis in the magocratic world. And goodbye to keeping Tamara’s death a secret, given the one keeping it was sitting right in front of me and batting her lashes trying to look innocent...

  “Okay, here’s the thing. I will accept your faction change request. In three days’ time, you will exit in the First Directory and there you will stay in my currently vacant palace under the faithful guard of the Second Legion. Rupor’s troopers will then fly to the Fourth Directory — they were officially invited there, so there shouldn’t be any complications — and they will collect the item you told me about. Then I will tell your relatives something like, ‘she came to me for political support, but I do not wish to involve myself in the La-Varrez dynasty’s internal squabbles, and will support whichever dynasty head you end up choosing. But I won’t let anyone hurt Soia-Tan either — there are just too few powerful mages left to let one go to waste.’ You’ll have to spend the whole next three days in the game. And now that it’s come to that, you will also give me mental support for my psionic training — consider it payment for the safety I will be providing. And if you really do turn out to be as powerful a mage as you claim... what the hell... even though you’re quite young, you might be able to join Team Gnat and accompany me on my voyages through the galaxy. But for now — you’re going to the Medic to get those burns treated. Then you’ll have dinner and go right to sleep because tomorrow we’ll both be getting up very early.”

  Chapter Thirty-Five. It Has Begun!

  I TOOK A LOOK around the group battle zone, which had now been cleared of debris. Flat, square, somewhere around forty yards by forty. A dusting of pure white sand covered the stains of dried blood from the previous fights. I looked around. A tightly packed crowd of army of Earth troops surrounded the location of the upcoming fight. The players were seated and standing all around, leaving not even enough room to swing a cat. Even the slopes of the distant hills were packed full of people with good optics. There were thousands, tens of thousands of soldiers even of the army of Earth. Somehow all these people knew what was about to take place, and the excitement was colossal. Seemingly, the whole army of fifty thousand was looking on.

  And what then could be said of the hurriedly constructed stands built for an audience of a few hundred next to the arena? They were simply crammed with people. So many I couldn’t even imagine how they all fit. I had heard rumors that seats in the stands were even being sold for cash, and prices had ranged into the thousands of Geckho crystals. I didn’t know for sure whether the viewers in the front row had bought tickets, but among them were the impossibly important Viceroy of Earth Gerd Kosta Dykhsh with his young wife Gerd Uline Tar, Vano Ubish head of the Geckho spaceport, and the leaders of several Earth factions. But when a demure dark-haired girl approached the stands, her uncanny face showing no emotions whatsoever, the seated audience members meekly scooted aside to make room for the former leader of the Second Legion.

  I chuckled to myself in satisfaction — Fox had taken a precaution to make sure at least one copy of her body would remain no matter what happened. Obviously, the Morphian was not one-hundred percent certain this would end favorably for her, and so she had played a little trick. At any rate, I saw that as a good thing — every existing copy made the Morphian weaker, so my opponent today would be significantly less deadly than one unified being.

  And there, by the way, was my adversary now — Gerd Ayni the Miyelonian emerged from the tent camp walking at an unhurried pace. I didn’t really know why the Morphian liked that particular form out of all her possible appearances but, at the training camp, Fox almost always opted for the small and unoffensive looking orange kitty. The commotion in the stands instantly fell silent. The instructor was known, respected and feared. The mountain of skulls that had piled up next to the mess tent over the last few days was proof that the Morphian did not ta
ke kindly to jokes and dealt with disobedience swiftly and mercilessly.

  Stopping three paces away from me and not paying any mind to the throngs of viewers, my rival made a comment, pointing a clawed paw at the Team Gnat fighters standing stock still behind me:

  “Not a bad selection overall. Four armored tanks. Two lightning-fast melee fighters and three shooters. But the Bard will be no use. I understand that it’s the best class for giving bonuses to the group. But he’ll be lucky to survive two seconds in this fairly small arena. And nothing could possibly protect Vasily Filippov. Gnat, switch the Bard out for someone else if you don’t want to suffer a quick defeat.”

  Yes, I understood the highly experienced warrior woman was right. No matter how my beefy tanks Vasha, Basha, T’yu-Pan and Eduard tried to protect the vulnerable Bard with their bodies and energy shields, the lightning fast and deadly Morphian would find a gap and quickly take him out. Then our group would lose all the speed, hitpoint and regeneration buffs the Bard provided.

  “Okay team, we’ll be making a replacement!” I announced loud enough for all to hear. “Formation number three! Vasily Andreyevich, no offense. Gerd Mauu-La Mya-Ssa, to the arena!”

  My Miyelonian Medic eagerly hopped out of the viewing area and ran in, taking his assigned position between the real Miyelonian Gerd Ayni Uri-Miayuu and Gerd Imran. All three of the lightning fast and blade-wielding players were supposed to tie up the Morphian with close combat for a few short seconds to give the shooters time to eliminate her. To accomplish that challenging objective, all three of the prominent melee fighters had been made as lightweight as possible. No armor at all, Imran had even taken off the famed red armor suit given to him by Kung Waid Shishish. No items in their inventory except one lone but powerful elixir to restore hitpoints and a stout speed enhancer, which the melee fighters were going to take right before the battle got started. Minimal clothing, but at that they all had on camouflage chameleon cloaks and a set of +2 Agility rings. Yes, our NPC Dryad had learned to make rings conferring +2 to any statistic and, for members of my crew, they were sold at a very affordable rate.