Eden's Gate: The Scourge: A LitRPG Adventure

by Edward Brody

  “Interesting,” I said. I wondered if there was some way I could harness both my swords skill and staves at the same time. Unarmed was a good complimentary spell, as Jax pointed out, but it seemed that even if I carried around both a sword and a staff, I’d always have to choose one or the other.

  As we continued along, I noticed a large camp of about 20 goblins that was set off a bit from the other camps scattered about. We had ignored it when we passed it the first time, as our mission was to capture an orc, but now that we were heading back, the camp looked like a good opportunity to earn some easy XP.

  “Hey, Rina,” I said, turning my head back towards her.

  “Yes, Gunnar?”

  “How many targets does your AOE spell affect?”

  Rina shrugged. “I’m not sure. Ten or more, but I’ve never counted. Perhaps all the enemies I try to target?”

  “Do you think it would work on all of those at once?” I asked.

  “What?” Jax butted in. “You want to farm?”

  I reached in my bag and pulled out the Siphoning Staff. “I was just thinking that this staff hit all three of us, right? If it can affect all of those goblins, Rina and I can get a quick load of experience. I can burn the charges in the staff so that it doesn’t go to waste. With so few charges, it won’t fetch all that much gold in our shop.”

  Jax shrugged and scanned the area. “Looks like they’re a pretty safe distance from the other camps. I’ll help if something goes wrong.”

  We rode closer to the group of goblins, and I slid off of Sora when we were in range. I put away my Stable Rock Staff and equipped the one I had looted. “Stay a bit far back, so that I don’t accidentally kill this one,” I said, pointing towards the orc.

  Okay, father.

  “You guys can stay on Fenris,” I said to Jax and Rina. “Rina, throw your AOE spell on them as much as you can.”

  “Ready,” Rina said.

  I walked towards the goblins confidently and wrinkled my nose as the smell of feces and urine grew stronger. The goblins were all lazing around their camp, seemingly doing nothing at all but relaxing or talking gibberish to each other, but when the first goblin spotted me, they all jumped to attention.

  I held the staff out in front of me and planned to wait until all the goblins were in range, but as soon as I saw two of the goblins in the camp draw bow and arrows, I ran forward to quickly close the distance.

  Right before the goblins were upon me, I stopped in place, tilted the staff forward and concentrated on releasing its on-cast effect, focusing on all the enemies in front of me.

  Twisted green and black energy sprang from the staff and formed numerous branches that all arced out and entered the bodies of the goblins. They all slowed to an almost unmoving pace, and it felt like energy was coursing into my body.

  Rina’s spell fell from the sky as I continued to unleash the spell, causing the goblins to jerk and let out beady cries of pain. She had time to cast the spell one more time before the on-cast effect broke, but with almost no cooldown, the goblins only took a step or two before I released the siphoning spell again.

  You have reached level 9 in Staves!

  Overpowered? I wondered. It certainly seemed like it. If I could find a staff like that with many charges, I could farm large groups of low-level mobs with little fear of death or mana loss. I’d have to keep my eyes out for such a thing. I’d also have to keep in mind that such a thing existed so I could figure out a decent counter if I were to ever face it again.

  It took a third cast of the siphoning on-cast before goblin heads started flopping to the side, one-by-one, indicating that they were dead. When I finally released the spell, all of the bodies dropped to the ground.

  You have gained 5800 XP!

  I turned back towards Rina and Jax, smiled and shrugged before scurrying forward and looting all the goblins and scavenging their camp.

  I had already dumped the ability points from my last level up into Wisdom and Intelligence, but I had been saving my one LP to raise my Mentalism immediately after its next level and maximize my gains—it was my spell branch with the hardest progression, and I needed it for my hoarded scrolls. That strategy, however, was risky as I’d lose the LP if I died. Staves was proving to be a pretty effective tool for me now, however, and since I had just leveled it up, I decided to dump my one LP into staves to bring my level up to 10.

  The looting of the camp only netted 10 gold and some arrows that I handed over to Jax, but it was worth it for the XP. With the big chunk of experience I had earned from the Arsonists’ Plot quest and the other gains since then, it wouldn’t be long until I netted another level.

  When I hopped back on Sora, Rina threw the bleeding, groaning orc another heal, and we continued on our way.

  “Orc!” one of the High Elves yelled as we rode into Edgewood. The elves all drew their bows and pointed them towards me, narrowing their eyes as they homed in on the battered mess behind me.

  I held up my palm to them. “He’s our prisoner and he’s restrained. No worries.”

  The elves lowered their bows, and Arryl marched close to me. “Why did you bring this thing here? Is this another orc you plan to take care of? The Queen will—”

  “I said he’s a prisoner!” I repeated loud and angrily. Realizing that I was more agitated than I should have been, I lowered my voice. “He won’t be here long. Don’t worry.”

  Arryl gritted his teeth and watched as we rode by.

  Once we were back to the heart of our village, I saw Sung and Jeremy sitting near our firepit with worried looks on their faces. Both of them were wearing red bandanas under their chin, and Jeremy’s clothes were splattered with blood. Strangest of all, Jeremy’s hair looked like it had been styled straighter than before and dyed bleach blond.

  “Glad you guys made it back okay,” I said as I pulled up nearby them and slid off of Sora. “Did you guys have any luck? And Jeremy, man—what happened to your hair?”

  “Um… yeah,” Jeremy said, scratching his head. “It’s a bit of a long story.”

  “Okay, well help me with this thing,” I said, tilting my head towards the orc, “and fill me in once we’ve gotten it off.”

  “Holy shit!” Jeremy cried as he stepped closer to the orc.

  “That’s nasty,” Sung said as he pointed towards the dangling mandible and droopy tongue of the orc.

  The orc squirmed, grunted, and its one good eye was wide with terror.

  Jax and I released Sora and Fenris to the Otherworld, and we all heaved the captive orc across the village and propped him against the wall of my house.

  “Rina, another heal please!” I yelled when it looked like the orc was drifting off.

  Rina cast another heal, and I could see that only the worst of the orc’s wounds were still bleeding, and bleeding slowly at that. Most of the smaller wounds had clotted up and dried. Its facial injury still looked ‘nasty’ as Sung put it, and I imagined damage like that would only be fixed with a large bandage and someone with a high First Aid skill.

  “Whot are yuu doon?” the orc blurted. “Why haab yuu blout meh hur?”

  “Wait a minute,” I said. “You’ll find out soon enough.”

  The orc wasn’t going anywhere, so I turned my attention back to Sung and Jeremy to get an update on their situation. “So, what happened on your trip? Did you find a disguise kit?”

  “Well, we made it to Knuckle Bay just fine,” Jeremy explained. “But things got difficult from there.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  “We started at the inn and bribed the innkeeper a few gold for information on how to get a disguise kit,” he continued.

  “How much?” I asked.

  “15 gold,” Jeremy replied.

  I pursed my lips. “Probably too little.”

  “Maybe,” Jeremy said, “but the innkeeper said he didn’t know of where to get a kit and pointed us to a guy in town known as The Barber.’”

  “A barber, huh?” I ques
tioned.

  “No,” Jax chimed in. “The Barber. He’s a smuggler and pretty well-known in Knuckle Bay for having information on the underbelly of Eden’s Gate. He’s also notorious for overpriced haircuts.”

  “Right,” Jeremy said, rubbing his hands through his new golden locks. “The innkeeper said he only talks to people who buy a haircut. Keeps his dealings looking legit, I guess. I mean, I think he did a good job, but it cost 100 gold for this.”

  Jax chuckled. “5 for the new hair and 95 for the information.”

  “Well,” Jeremy continued. “The Barber didn’t have disguise kits but told us to head to the Knuckle Bay docks and ask around for a guy named Twinkle Toes. Even got a quest to find him that offered some XP. He gave us these bandanas to make us look like normal thieves—said it would make us fit in.”

  “Twinkle Toes?” Jax said, rubbing his chin. “Never heard of him.”

  “Yeah, well, once we left the barber, it was clear that we were getting followed by someone, and then once we started asking about Twinkle Toes at the docks, a lot of eyes were looking our way.”

  “It was clear that something wasn’t right,” Sung said. “And we never found Twinkle Toes.”

  “Deceptive Quest?” I questioned.

  “I think so,” Sung answered. “But it could’ve just been that thieves were onto us. Someone at the docks asked what we were looking for, and when we said an advanced disguise kit, their eyes lit up with dollar signs. I guess they figured we were carrying a lot of gold if we could afford one of those.”

  “We tried to slip away to gather more intel,” Jeremy explained, “But a few minutes after we left the docks, we got cornered by four guys.”

  “Thankfully, not too high level,” Sung added.

  “Yeah,” Jeremy said with a nod. “We killed three of ‘em, but the fourth one ran away—probably to get more of his friends.”

  “Sorry, Gunnar,” Sung muttered. “We had to get out of there before more trouble showed up. Knuckle Bay is a rough town.”

  “Didn’t even have time to loot the kills,” Jeremy said.

  “Damn…” I groaned. “Well, thanks for trying.” I turned my head back towards the orc. “Plan A failed too, but at least we managed to execute plan B. Now we just need to convince him to help us. Where’s Aaron and Keysia?”

  “They’re taking care of the baby in Aaron’s house,” Jeremy said.

  I walked over to Aaron’s house, gave it a quick knock, and shortly after, Aaron popped his head outside.

  “Wazup homie?!” he blurted with a smile when he saw me.

  “Where’s the baby?” I asked. “And why are you in such a good mood?”

  Aaron tilted his head towards the depths of his little cabin. “He’s in here. Keysia’s got him. And I don’t know… I’ve actually been having fun taking care of the kid.”

  I raised an eyebrow to him before stepping inside. “Have you now?”

  “Yeah, the little guy is alright,” he answered.

  Keysia was sitting on the bed with the baby in her lap, and in the baby’s hand was a pint-sized, wooden battle axe. It waved the battle axe around, and Keysia used an equally tiny wooden sword to block the baby’s swings.

  “Bam!” Keysia said in a childlike voice. “Bam!”

  “What the hell?” I asked.

  “I made it some toys,” Aaron said. “Pretty cool, huh?”

  “I thought you wanted to kill the baby, Keysia?”

  Keysia looked up from the baby and swallowed when she made eye contact with me. “Um… well… I uh…”

  “Oh, come on,” Aaron said. “It may be an orc, but no one can hate a baby. It’s okay that she’s taken a liking to him.”

  “I wouldn’t say that it’s a liking…” Keysia argued.

  “Trust me,” Aaron said as he lifted the orc from Keysia’s hands. “You’d make a great mom. The kid loves you.”

  Keysia’s eyes went wide, and a hint of blush tinted her cheeks.

  “Well, anyway,” I said. “We’ve captured an orc, so I’m going to need the baby.”

  “Oh shit,” Aaron said. “You actually got one?”

  “Yeah,” I said. “Pass me the kid.”

  Keysia passed the baby to me, and when I removed the toy from its hand, it immediately started crying. I bounced it a few times, trying to get it to quiet, but it was clear that it wasn’t going to stop until the wooden battleaxe was returned.

  I gave Aaron the stink eye. “You spoiled him.”

  “It’s better than feeding it your blood or wasting food rations,” he said.

  I twisted my lips and shrugged. He was right, but I was still worried that the baby having a toy in its hand might be a distraction for the warlock when I brought the baby before him.

  All three of us filed outside, and I immediately headed for the decrepit orc. I knelt in front of him, and its one working eye followed me and widened when I held the child out in my arms.

  “This is why you’re here,” I muttered.

  “Why?! Why yuu haa dis?!” the orc asked desperately.

  “Its mother was killed,” I explained. “I agreed to help return it to its father.”

  The warlock rattled against the side of my home and created nasty coughing and gagging sounds that remotely sounded like a laugh. “Lie, liar!”

  I shook my head. “You can believe what you want to believe, but all I ask is that you help me find the orc’s father. His name is Rithnar.”

  “Ne-er! Ne-er!” the orc grunted, trying to push its weight towards me. “Kill meh! Kill meh!”

  “Let me help you,” Jax said before stepping in front of me and slamming his fist on the side of the orc’s face.

  Jax flicked his hand around several times from the pain of the punch as the orc leaned over helplessly. Blood poured out of its throat and down the side of its broken mouth.

  “Stop, Jax,” I ordered. “You’re gonna kill him. Rina, please. Another heal…”

  Rina cast a heal spell on the orc, and I grabbed its shoulders to push it back up straight.

  “Kill… meh, Kill nmmmmeh,” the warlock said exhaustedly.

  “Or we can heal you,” I said. “If you tell me where Rithnar is, I’ll have our healer bandage your mouth, and you’re free to go.”

  “Absolutely not.” Arryl was nearby, watching the scene unfold. “This thing will not leave this forest without an arrow in its head.”

  “Shut up!” I shouted, creasing my brow. “You don’t make the rules here.”

  The orc laughed, but it sounded more like a sputter of blood coming from its throat. “Lie-arr. Hu-an no hell orc! Ne-er!”

  “No lies,” I said.

  The orc’s one good eye suddenly went wide, and I felt a strong pressure against my throat. I reached my hand out to feel what was grabbing me, and a second later I was being pulled upward, and couldn’t breathe. I made a gagging sound myself and nearly dropped the baby as I involuntarily reached for my throat and felt my back arching the wrong way. Seeing my motions, Keysia stepped forward and took the child out of my hands.

  “It’s the orc!” Rina cried.

  Keysia turned toward the warlock, held her hand out and released a string of lightning from her fingertips.

  The warlock juddered several times from the attack, and its spell was immediately released.

  “Wait,” I said with a quick cough. “Careful. Don’t kill him.”

  Keysia stopped her electrical attack and turned to me. “It’s dangerous. It can still cast even with its arms tied.”

  “It was just a weak attack,” I said as I remembered some of my reading material from the Mages Guild. I never thought the information would come in handy, but it was actually turning out to be something good to know. “He didn’t harm me. He’s trying to use a projected spell on me, but he’s having trouble projecting it well without his hands.” I kneeled back down in front of the orc. “Right?”

  “Kill meh…” It muttered again.

  “Help me, and I’l
l help you,” I said. “Help me and you’ll live. So will the orc child.”

  “Ne-er!” the orc grunted. “Ne-er hel hu-an. Ne-er. Ne-er. Dieeeee!”

  Its eye went wide again, and I was suddenly struck with the same constricting grip around my neck. It was stronger than last time, causing me to panic a little as I lost my ability to breathe. I grabbed at my throat, jerked myself up and stumbled back a couple times.

  Suddenly, the warlock fell on its side and jerked its one working arm around, just enough so that its hand slipped between the rope and it was able to wiggle its fingers in the air. An aura of dark magic started engulfing its hand, but before it could cast whatever it was about to cast, Keysia sent another strong attack of lightning into it.

  The orc trembled, its attack around my neck was once again removed, and the magic in its hand instantly faded away.

  Keysia only channeled the attack for a few seconds, but when she released the spell, the orc muttered, “Yes… es…. ess….” as its head slowly tilted over, and its breathing stopped.

  “Oh damn,” I muttered as I put my hand to my forehead. “I think you killed it.”

  “Sorry,” Keysia said. “I had to do something.”

  “It’s okay,” I replied. “Rina can resurrect it.” I turned to Rina. “Rina, can you—”

  I heard the sharp sound of a blade slicing through flesh and bone, and when I turned around, Arryl was standing above the warlock, re-sheathing his bloodied sword.

  “There will be no resurrections of orcs here,” Arryl said confidently, standing over the decapitated body.

  “What the hell?!” I shouted and started marching angrily towards the elf. “Who do you think you are? This is our village!”

  “This is elven forest,” Arryl stated. “I held back in regards to the child and even allowed you to bring your prisoner here for questioning. I will not, however, allow you to bring an orc back to life. It’s too dangerous, and the Queen would not approve.”

  “You have a lot of nerve,” I said angrily, pointing my finger directly in Arryl’s face. “You and your—”