Eden's Gate: The Scourge: A LitRPG Adventure

by Edward Brody

  Damn… As I thought about it more, Trynzen was a real friend, not just a quest puppet. I looked over to where he was standing quietly but taller than normal. “What do you think about all this, Trynzen? You’re okay with the experimentation?”

  Trynzen took a deep breath and let out a loud sigh. “The affliction dampens my mind. Memories are dull, but I do remember the pain as nearly unbearable at times. I don’t think I could manage the tests in this heightened consciousness, but without the ring, I can take it.” He swallowed hard. “If I were to someday be free of my disease, perhaps… perhaps… I could be accepted as a normal Barbaros. The feeling of rejection can often feel worse than the physical pain. Sometimes I can’t grasp when people are belittling me, but there are moments when I realize what’s happening.”

  Jenzyn sighed and placed a hand on Trynzen’s shoulder. “I will right my father’s wrong, cousin.”

  “Jenzyn!” Mylynzen yelled, peeking his head down from the upper floor. “Hurry up! We must prepare!”

  Jenzyn looked towards the ladder then swiveled her head to get a good look at all her belongings. “I’m going to lose so much work…”

  “Quit groaning,” Mylynzen ordered. “Gather your valuables and anything that might get you in trouble. Leave only what you can afford to lose.”

  “There must be a better way,” Jenzyn protested.

  “I’ve thought of a hundred different scenarios while you’ve been down there, and none of them will work. We must leave the city, and the bodies must be burned.”

  Jenzyn groaned, and her shoulders slumped. She looked up to me and asked, “Are you going to help us with this?”

  You’ve received a quest offer: The Arsonists’ Plot!

  Jenzyn and Mylynzen would like you to assist them in their plot to cover up the killings in Barbarosia. You must escape Barbarosia without anyone getting captured and without any witnesses to the crime.

  Reward: 15,000 XP

  Do you accept this quest? Accept/Decline

  I turned to Sung, and we made eye contact. He smiled a bit but didn’t make any gestures that indicated to me what he was thinking. Still, Sung had an air to him that reassured me that he was on board, so he didn’t really have to say anything at all. He was sharp and vocal when he disagreed, so his silence reinforced his agreement. I could see how he had been so esteemed in his past guild, as he was proving to be an invaluable wingman.

  The baby upstairs had been mostly quiet since feeding it, and I had no idea if or how we could get it back home. But I knew that any additional drama, such as fighting between the Scourge and the Barbaros would only make everything more difficult. And if my prosecution at Highcastle had taught me anything, it was fairly easy to get caught up in drama if you got caught in the wrong place at the wrong time.

  I wasn’t sure if burning a building down to cover up two killings was the best course of action to avoid such drama, but after everything Trynzen had done for me, I wasn’t about to just walk away and risk letting him take the fall. I was partially responsible for the orc’s death, and Trynzen had killed his brother for me.

  “Yeah, we’ll help,” I said. “What’s the plan exactly?”

  You have accepted the quest: The Arsonists’ Plot!

  Chapter Eighteen

  2/19/0001

  Jenzyn lifted the last of the items she was taking out of her treasure chest, and started running around the room, furiously yanking open drawers and cabinets.

  “I thought you said you’ve gotten everything of value,” I said.

  “Yeah,” Jenzyn affirmed, “but I’ve got to make it look like the place has been ransacked. I don’t want to leave a doubt in anyone’s mind…”

  Mylynzen dragged Wynnizen’s body across the floor until it was lying directly beside the orc, popped a greenish-colored potion and started pouring it over the two. The bodies immediately began to sizzle, and the smell of burning flesh rose into the air.

  “Oh damn,” Sung cursed, wrinkling his nose and covering the baby’s face with his hand. “What the hell is that?”

  “An acid potion,” Mylynzen answered. He dropped the empty vial into his bag, pulled out a yellowish-orange bottle and popped the cork. He carefully poured the liquid over the acid, covering every inch of the bodies, then dropped that empty vial in his bag as well.

  “What’s that one?” I asked.

  “An immolation potion,” he said. “It burns like lava when ignited with fire… It’ll eat right through flesh and bone.”

  “Hey!” Jenzyn yelled to Mylynzen, and when he turned, she tossed him a dark, nearly black potion.

  Mylynzen’s eyes went wide as the potion flew through the air, but he caught it expertly with both paws. He snarled at Jenzyn. “Damnit! Are you crazy? You’ll get us all killed!”

  “I know your reflexes better than you do,” Jenzyn said cockily.

  Mylynzen growled, but quickly turned away and set the potion between the bodies.

  Using potions that the two had collected around Jenzyn’s house and basement, he created small piles all around the corpses. Atop the potion piles, he tossed several low-value gems, and a couple of small bags filled with coins, to create the impression of a robbery gone wrong.

  After pulling open the drawers, Jenzyn opened a large bottle about the same size of a wine bottle and started tossing oil from it on the walls. “This will light things up, but it doesn’t burn as hot as an immolation potion… I’d like at least some of my house to be salvageable.” When she was done with the walls, she drew a long line of oil from the bodies on the ground to an area in the corner near the wall.

  When the two were finished, Mylynzen rubbed his paws together. “Shall we go over the plans again?” he asked.

  I looked down to the bodies. “At nightfall, when everything has quieted down, we’re going to light everything on fire, and—“

  Jenzyn interrupted me as she pointed to the end of the line of oil she just created. “Just throw out a bit of fire on the walls, and right before you leave, light the oil there. It’ll burn slowly and eventually reach the explosion potion in between the bodies.”

  “You’ve got maybe one or two minutes before things blow,” Mylynzen said. “Don’t wait around.”

  “I’ve got it,” I acknowledged.

  “If everything goes as planned, the who’s who of Barbarosia will assume that it was a botched robbery,” Mylynzen explained. “A couple of fools looting potions and gems who accidently dropped an explosion potion on the way out.”

  “When Glenetzyn realizes that Wynnizen is missing, people will assume he was one of the victims,” Jenzyn said with a shrug. “He’s been here many times and wasn’t the noblest person in Barbarosia, so it’s totally plausible. The orc will be unidentifiable, and so it shouldn’t be a problem. They’ll just assume the body is another rogue Barbaros.”

  “What about the baby?” Sung asked, holding the child and carefully shaking it up and down.

  Jenzyn and Mylynzen both raised their eyebrows and shook their heads as if they had no idea why he was asking.

  “So…” Sung said as he glanced to me, “you expect us to sneak out of here with the baby?”

  I rubbed my chin and looked at Mylynzen. “It would be nice if you can care for the baby until this is all over. I’ll take it back once I figure out a way to find the dead orc’s husband.”

  Mylynzen crossed his arms in front of him. “No way that’s going to happen. We’re already risking a lot here. How would we explain why we’re with an orc child? It’s already suspicious enough that we’re leaving Barbaros a few hours before the fire.”

  Sung turned to me. “Can’t you just recall with it?”

  Jenzyn answered for me. “You can recall with pets you own, but otherwise recall only works with a single target… The baby isn’t a pet, so as far as I know, you would need a portal or some other means for fast traveling.”

  “We can’t cast portals.” I sighed and looked to Sung. “We’ll just have to do the best w
e can.”

  Sung groaned and furrowed his eyebrows. “Where are we going to take him? Our village?”

  “Well yeah. Where else? We’ll have to try.”

  Sung shook his head in disapproval. “I don’t know about all this…”

  “Do you have a better plan?” I asked.

  Sung tapped his fingers together, glanced at the baby, then raised his eyebrows toward the two staged bodies we were planning to burn.

  “We can’t do that,” I said, wrinkling my brow. I wasn’t sure if he was joking or not.

  He shrugged and turned away.

  “The great cat,” Mylynzen said, looking to Sora. “What is your plan for her? Do you have suppression pellets?”

  I shook my head. “Usually, Barbaros don’t pay her too much attention here in the city.”

  “We’re good at hiding our interest,” Mylynzen said while rummaging in his bag. He pulled out several small pellets and tossed them to me. “I found those on Wynnizen. I could use them myself but consider it an additional apology for what we did to your horses.”

  You’ve received: 2 Suppression Pellet: Grey. Durability: 10/10. Quality: Average. Rarity: Rare. Weight: 0.1 kg. Suppresses the magical size of Great Beasts.

  You’ve received: 2 Suppression Pellet: White. Durability: 10/10. Quality: Average. Rarity: Rare. Weight: 0.1 kg. Releases a Great Beast’s suppression.

  I pocketed the pellets and smiled. “Thanks.”

  “There was a necklace as well, which Jenzyn said was Trynzen’s,” Mylynzen said.

  “Yes, yes! It’s mine!” Trynzen yelled, tugging on the necklace he had already refastened around his neck. Jenzyn had since reclaimed the ring she had given him earlier, so he was back to his usual self.

  “What about our horse outside?” Sung asked. “We’ll be okay leaving here with a horse, right?”

  “The horse outside is yours?” Mylynzen questioned.

  Sung nodded.

  “Hmmm…” Mylynzen buzzed. “I assumed it was food. The horse may or may not be a problem. Let me think.”

  “I have another favor to ask you,” Jenzyn said.

  I raised an eyebrow to her. “Yeah?”

  “Trynzen…” she said.

  “Trynzen?!” Trynzen perked up excitedly, scurrying up next to her.

  “Take him with you…” she said, rubbing his shoulder.

  “Take him with me?” I asked, shaking my head. “I just finished your request to bring him here.”

  Jenzyn nodded. “Yes, but now things are a mess. If Trynzen remains here, people—particularly his other brother—will grow suspicious. Besides, it may be some time before I’m able to use my lab again. Trynzen said you’ve been taking care of him well, so I’d be gracious if you can continue to do so, at least until I’m able to repair my home.”

  I groaned and bobbed my head a little bit. I didn’t like the surprise, but I wasn’t going to deny Trynzen a place to stay. “How long?”

  “Where do you live again?” Jenzyn asked.

  “Edgewood,” I confirmed.

  “Are Barbaros welcome there?” she asked.

  “As far as I’m concerned, they are.”

  “Then I’ll find you in Edgewood when I can begin my experimentation again,” she said.

  “Then that’s what we’ll do with the horse,” Mylynzen said. “We’ll take Trynzen and the horse out of Barbarosia and leave them near the Peace Temple. It’ll be less suspicious if Trynzen and the horse leave here with us now.”

  Sung’s face twisted. “You’re leaving Trynzen alone with a horse? I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”

  “He’ll be fine,” Jenzyn said. She turned towards him… “Right, Trynzen?”

  “Trynzen?” Trynzen questioned as he turned away from a tiny bug he had been looking at, crawling across the table.

  Jenzyn raised an eyebrow. “Got any food, Mylynzen?”

  “I have a couple of rations,” he said.

  “Hungry?” Jenzyn asked. “One and then two?”

  Trynzen perked up and scurried away from the bug and over to Jenzyn. “One and then two?! Yes, yes. Trynzen want!”

  Mylynzen snorted. “We’ll return to Barbarosia when things have settled and there’s no room to suspect that Jenzyn and I have any involvement in this performance. I have a small cabin to the northeast of here that we’ll be hunting around if you require us before then.”

  “Also, Gunnar, if you find any reagents ending with ‘E’, please save them and bring them to me. I’ll pay you graciously for any and all of them, and if you manage to help me cure Trynzen’s affliction, I’ll reward you greatly.”

  You’ve received a quest offer: Search for a Cure!

  Jenzyn would like you to find reagents ending with the letter ‘E’. You will be rewarded for each new reagent returned and will receive a greater reward if a cure is found.

  Reward: Unknown.

  Do you accept this quest? Accept/Decline

  “By reward, do you mean gold?” I asked. I felt a little slimy asking in such a situation, but I couldn’t ignore the fact that we were struggling in Edgewood. We were going to need a whole lot more than the 20,000 I had just earned to keep things moving forward.

  Jenzyn nodded. “I promise you a great sum if you help me find the cure.”

  “Alright. I’ll do what I can.” I didn’t like that the reward was unspecified, but it wasn’t an issue as I would’ve tried to help Trynzen for free.

  You have accepted the quest: Search for a Cure!

  “Thank you, Gunnar,” Jenzyn said. “You too, Sung.”

  Mylynzen heaved a heavy sack filled with illicit goods, potions, gold, and other items that had been gathered from Jenzyn’s house over his shoulder and headed for the door. Jenzyn lifted another sack half the size and followed right after.

  “Hurry now,” Mylynzen ordered his friend. “Will hide the smuggled items first, and then I want to be far, far, away when this place goes up in smoke. It’ll be chaos around here.”

  “I’m coming, I’m coming…” Jenzyn said. She grabbed Trynzen by the wrist. “Let’s go, Trynzen… we have something for you to do.”

  “One and then two!” Trynzen squawked.

  “Settle down,” Jenzyn said. “You’ll get it if you want. Now, help me with this horse.”

  When the three had left the house, Sung and I sat down at the table and waited for night to fall.

  “Here, take him,” Sung said, passing the baby my way.

  I lifted the baby orc in my hands and pulled him close to my chest. It smiled and made a cooing noise, though the tone was a bit deeper than a human child. The baby seemed generally happy and hadn’t cried much since we had returned from the underground laboratory. “Do you still want to kill this thing?” I questioned.

  Sung shook his head as he stood up from the chair. “Yeah, no… But you shouldn’t have given him to me for so long. I’ve kind of taken an... uhh…”

  “Grown attached to him, huh?”

  Sung smirked but didn’t say anything. He strolled over to the drawers and cabinets Jenzyn had pulled open and started looking in them.

  “What are you searching for?” I asked.

  “Anything good she may have left,” he said.

  “Thievery, huh?”

  Sung shrugged. “I wouldn’t call it that. She said she got everything she wanted, so better to take whatever we can for ourselves rather than risk it being destroyed in the fire, right?”

  “Yeah, I suppose,” I said. “Let me know if you find anything good.”

  Sora curled up near my feet and took a nap while Sung continued rummaging around the home. He searched almost every corner and even went down in the basement to look for any potions or reagents that Jenzyn may have left there. When he returned, he walked up to the table and sat a small fingertip-sized maroon-colored pouch on top. “Look what I found on top of one of the cabinets. She left one of those miskilim things she was talking about, or at least that’s what the label on the bottom of th
e pouch says.”

  You’ve received: Miskilim. Durability: 10/10. Quality: Average. Rarity: Common. Weight: 0.1 kg. An illicit substance used for incredible enhancements. Be wary of addiction and side-effects!

  “Yeah, it’s miskilim,” I said. “Fucking drugs. I wouldn’t mess with it.”

  “Why not?” Sung asked as he sat in the chair across from me. “We’ve had joojak a few times in camp…”

  “This looks a whole lot more intense than joojak,” I said as I opened the pouch and examined a heap of finely ground red crystals inside. “When I took kroka, it messed me up for a long time. It was all I could think about. Addiction in this game is real.” I slid the miskilim back to him. “Don’t get caught with this.”

  “I could go for some joojak right about now,” Sung said. “How long have we got? Another few hours before we can head out?”

  “Sounds about right,” I said.

  Sung sighed, but then his eyes perked up. “I also found these downstairs… might be good for you.” He reached into his bag and pulled out a ring and a recipe.

  You’ve received: Schematic: Hearty Bird Pie. [Foodstuffs. Satiates when eaten. +5 Vitality for 5 minutes.] Requires 18 Intelligence. Requires Cooking Lvl 10. Requires: 1 Bird Steak, 1 Common Mushroom, 1 Milk, 1 Seasoning. Durability: 7/10. Quality: Average. Rarity: Common. Weight: 0.1 kg

  You’ve received: Ring of Smoldering. Durability: 7/10. Quality: Average. Rarity: Rare. Weight: 0.1 kg. +10% Fire Magic damage.

  “Nice,” I said with a smile. “You’re giving ‘em to me?”

  “Yeah, of course,” Sung said.