Sovereign Rising (The Gods' Game, Volume III): A LitRPG novel

by Rohan M Vider

  Ability: Guardian’s aura

  Skill: Racial unique (jade great bears).

  Description: Fortifies the jade bear’s allies in the vicinity.

  Rank: Young bear.

  Cost: 80 will per hour.

  Execution time: Instantaneous.

  Area of effect: Radius of 0.1m x level around caster.

  Duration: Infinite (activated ability).

  Buff: Increases the strength and constitution of self and allies by 1% x level.

  Kyran’s Profile (Class Data)

  Name: Kyran Seversan. Race: Elf.

  Player type: Advanced player, free agent.

  Combat level: 22. Civilian level: 23. Health: 230/230.

  Stamina: 145/500. Will: 354/1020. Essence: 53/1200.

  Attacks: 44.2 (slash), 40.8 (psi), 43.4 (fire).

  Defences: 30.7 (physical), 23 (psi), 23 (spell).

  Class: Jade wild druid (rank II, apprentice).

  The wild druid is a psionic-magic hybrid with class abilities focused on beast mastery.

  Class traits

  Incompetent summoner (-1 summoned creatures): Current limit = 0.

  Wild tamer (+1 tamed creatures per rank): Current limit = 7.

  Class skills

  Beast bonding (52.4), body control (40.8), light armour (24.0), psionics (40.8), telepathy (40.8), air magic (51), earth magic (51), supportive magic (51), spellcasting (51), water magic (51), nature lore (24.0).

  Class abilities

  Wild shift: Druids can shift into a beastform.

  Beastform: Druids can learn the beastform of a befriended creature. Known beastforms: 0/4.

  Other skills (0 combat and civilian SP available)

  Fire magic (43.4), longsword (10.4), telekinesis (26.5).

  Commander (16.0), governor (8.6), mage lord (48.0), scrying (14.4), travelling (14.4), feudal lord (0).

  Vassals: 2 of 16.

  Combat abilities (5 AP available)

  Beast bond, rank II: Beast befriend.

  Air magic, rank II: Shock wall.

  Earth magic, rank II: Oil slick.

  Telepathy, rank II: Psi wave.

  Beast bond, rank I: Calm beast, beast bond, extend bond, enrage beast.

  Body control, rank I: Mind-over-matter, boost speed.

  Telepathy, rank I: Mind shock, confusion.

  Telekinesis, rank I: Teleport (self), hold, teleport (object).

  Air magic, rank I: Blend, truesight, shocking hands.

  Fire magic, rank I: Flaming hands, fire dart, fire shield.

  Water magic, rank I: Water armour, slippery ice, ice wall, freezing hands.

  Earth magic, rank I: Barkskin, grasping roots, earth tremor, poison ward.

  Supportive magic, rank I: Restore health (self), restore health (others).

  Civilian abilities (7 AP available)

  Scrying, rank II: Improved scrying.

  Travelling, rank I: Show portals, travel (self).

  Scrying, rank I: Show hostiles, basic scrying, detect scrying.

  Nature lore, rank I: Show plants, gather plants.

  Commander, rank I: Inspiring, shared sight.

  Governor, rank I: Detect truth.

  Mage lord, rank I: Channel essence, channel novice spells.

  Equipped items

  Heir’s mithril scale armour (32 armour, +8% commander).

  Elven mageblade (35-40 slash damage, +8% longsword).

  Bone shaman necklace (+2% earth magic).

  Tamer's bracelet (+8% beast bonding).

  Ability: Wild shift

  Class: Jade wild druid.

  Description: The wild shift ability allows the caster to assume the shape of a beast whose form he has learned through the beastform ability. Warning: players sufficiently skilled in earth magic or nature lore may see to the wild druid’s true form beneath his beastform.

  Rank: Apprentice.

  Cost: 80 will.

  Execution time: 5 minutes.

  Buff: Shifts the caster into a beastform with or without jade armour (jade armour provides + 1 natural armour per player level). The caster’s physical (body) attributes are changed to that of the beastform whose shape he has learned. The caster’s other attributes (mind and spirit) are unaffected.

  Debuff: Spellcasting blocked.

  Duration: Infinite.

  Ability: Beastform

  Class: Jade wild druid.

  Description: The beastform ability allows the caster to gain an intimate understanding of the shape, functioning, and anatomy of a beast that he is currently befriended to. Warning: target creature’s rank cannot exceed caster’s rank.

  Rank: Apprentice.

  Cost: 80 essence.

  Execution time: 1 hour.

  Effect: Gains the targeted creature’s beastform (permanent). Warning: only two beastforms may be learned per caster rank. Beastforms may not be unlearned.

  Chapter 14

  15 Octu 2603 AB

  Kyran shot to his feet. Expanding his awareness along the threads of the battlegroup connecting him to Adra, he saw she was at least two hundred metres out. Very little of his essence had been replenished since their last encounter, so he could not afford to scry out Adra’s and Mirien’s pursuers himself. “How many?” he asked. “And what are they?”

  “I’m not sure on both accounts,” Adra panted through the link as she sprinted towards their camp. “Even with my night vision, their shapes are nearly impossible to separate from the darkness. Mirien thinks it’s a worg hunting pack, leading a band of ogres.” No hint of animosity coloured Adra’s voice at the mention of Mirien. Her earlier argument with the whiesper seemed forgotten in the danger of the moment.

  Damn. “Any chance of outrunning them?”

  “If these are worgs, no. A pack can keep up a hunt for days if necessary.”

  “We fight then. Get here as fast as you can.”

  “On our way,” replied Adra.

  Dropping the mental link, Kyran hurried back to their camp with Gaesin in tow. Alert and ready, Aiken rose to greet them. Stopping by the campfire, Kyran surveyed their surroundings.

  The party’s camp was braced against a sheer cliff wall at the top of a slight rise. On the right, a tumble of boulders obstructed passage up the slope. Their attackers would either have to charge directly uphill or approach obliquely from the left to reach them. Adra had chosen their campsite well, he thought appreciatively.

  He craned his neck and gazed up the length of the cliff. It was too high for Gaesin or even Adra to scale in the short time remaining before their assailants arrived.

  He turned to his companions. “Aiken, head down the slope and keep watch. Gaesin, ready yourself.” He held the youth’s eyes. “I’m mostly out of essence, so you are going to be our primary caster in this engagement.”

  The half-elf met his eyes unflinchingly despite his nervous swallow. “I won’t let the party down,” he said with gritted determination.

  Kyran nodded. “I know you won’t. The moment Mirien and Adra appear, cast an ice wall behind them. Don’t wait to see what is chasing them.” Receiving the youth’s acknowledgement, he concluded, “Let’s be about it then.”

  As the other two moved off, Kyran turned his gaze inwards and took stock of his essence and psi.

  Name: Kyran Seversan.

  Health: 230/230. Stamina: 145/500.

  Will: 354/1020. Essence: 53/1200.

  He had enough essence for at most one novice spell. Kyran glanced from the campfire’s dull light to the darkness covering the mountains.

  He would have liked to be able to protect himself with a fire shield, but fighting blind was too risky. He needed his sight more than he needed the added layer of protection. Sighing, he suffused his eyes with essence and cast truesight.

  You have cast truesight (range: 510m).

  His psi pool, thankfully, was about a third full, so he would not be forced to rely on his sword alone in the battle. He gazed downslope and saw that Mirien and Adra had still not appeared.<
br />
  Readying himself, he willed psi into his body and cast his protective spells. Energy rippled through muscle, bone, and skin—strengthening, hardening, and toughening.

  Kyran has activated mind-over-matter (+40 strength, dexterity, and constitution).

  Kyran has cast boost speed (+40% speed).

  He completed his psicasting and looked up to see the two women racing up the hill. Dark shadows nipped at their heels. The shapes that chased them were shrouded even from his truesight, he realised, brows furrowing.

  “Heads up, Gaesin, they’re here,” he called. But Gaesin, he saw approvingly a second later, had already spotted Mirien and Adra and was in the midst of casting ice wall.

  Kyran’s gaze flicked back to the two beleaguered party members. The women had their weapons drawn and, every so often, pivoted to strike at the nebulous forms that encircled them on three sides. He ached to go to their aid, but without a protective shield, he would likely be more hindrance than help. “Brother, help them.”

  A few metres downslope, Aiken complied. Flinging up his head, the jade bear gave voice to a resounding roar, an elongated avalanche of sound that made the earth tremble and shook loose stones free.

  Aiken has used terrifying roar (radius: 100m, chance to resist: 15%, duration: 3 minutes), 3 worgs dazed, 5 worgs terrified.

  “Good job, brother,” whispered Kyran. Scanning the Game’s message, he realised Adra and Mirien had been right. The creatures on their heels were worgs.

  Aiken’s roar had terrified and dazed the beasts—revealing them in the process as well. Whining, the creatures fell back from the women, leaving the pair free to sprint unhindered towards Aiken.

  The women would reach them safely, Kyran saw with relief. Turning to study their attackers, he probed the nearest worg with insight.

  Creature: Worg (domesticated). Type: Beast. Rarity: Uncommon.

  Level: 25. Health: 300 / 300.

  Attack: 25-30 (piercing).

  Defences: 20 (physical), 25 (psi), 25 (spell).

  Traits and abilities:

  Diseased bite: May infect the bitten foe with a rabid disease.

  Rending bite: Physical attack that inflicts wounds and bleeding damage.

  Night stalkers: Worgs are nearly impossible to see at night, naturally camouflaged to blend into the darkness when not in combat.

  Night hunters: Unimpaired night vision.

  Description:

  Worgs are highly adept night predators, with a keen sense of smell and sight. Larger than their wolf brethren, they are renowned for their ferocity and viciousness.

  Beast bonding probability:

  You have a 95% probability of forming a beast bond with it (an effective skill level of 52.4 against a worg’s psi defence of 25).

  The size of a small pony, each worg stood nearly five feet tall and was covered in rippling black fur that made it nearly impossible to pick out from the surrounding darkness. The black and grey shades of even their tongues, teeth, and eyes served to further camouflage them into the night.

  But despite their grim appearance, the worgs themselves did not worry Kyran. He turned his eyes to the darkness beyond the eight creatures retreating back down the slope. What else lurks out there? he wondered. More ogres?

  Gaesin has cast ice wall (length: 36.6m, wall HP: 366).

  Gaesin’s ice wall rose into place. Beginning from the boulders on the right, the jagged spikes of ice marched across the slope. The wall was not long enough to cut off all entry into the camp, but it gave the party a narrower gap to defend.

  Mirien skidded to a halt at the ice wall’s appearance and, after a few mumbled words to Adra, positioned herself across the open stretch to the wall’s left. “Join Mirien, brother,” Kyran said to Aiken while he waited for Adra to reach them.

  Breathing heavily, Adra drew to a stop next to him and Gaesin. She unclipped her bow and spun around to face downslope. “Mirien will stand guard at the ice wall,” she said. “There’s a whole pack of worgs on our tail.”

  “Could you make out their numbers?” asked Kyran.

  Adra shrugged. “Twenty at least.”

  Kyran pursed his lips as he thought. The worgs that had retreated after Aiken’s roar had not reappeared, but Kyran was sure that they lurked somewhere behind the ice wall. “Alright, you and Gaesin stay here. I’ll join Aiken and Mirien at the wall.”

  The two acknowledged the order with terse nods. Drawing in essence, Kyran teleported downslope—right behind Mirien. Starting in surprise, the whiesper whirled around in a blur that was almost too fast to follow.

  Seeing her shocked expression, Kyran almost grinned. “Not so much fun when you’re the victim, is it?” he murmured. Not waiting for a no-doubt scathing retort, he stepped away from the scowling whiesper and up to Aiken’s side.

  Peering through the ice wall, he could just make out the blurred forms of the worgs pacing up and down its length. He need not have rushed, he realised. The worgs appeared in no hurry to attack.

  Mirien stepped up to join Kyran and Aiken. “What are they waiting for?” he asked, glancing at her.

  “Probably the hunt-masters,” she said with a shrug. “Those are no wild worgs, they’re too disciplined by far. They’ve corralled their quarry, so now they wait for the hunters to catch up.”

  Kyran nodded in agreement with her assessment. Drawing his sword, he set his stance and waited. The hunters leading the pack had to be ogres, he thought. Nothing else in the mountains had been even remotely interested in them. Was it Gnarok’s warband again? But how had the young ogre chief caught up to them so quickly?

  Mirien glanced at the sword in Kyran’s hand. “You’re out of essence?”

  He nodded.

  Her gaze slid downwards to study his stance and her lips thinned. “Well, you aren’t going to be much use to us with that blade,” she said with thinly disguised disdain. “Best you join the others upslope.”

  “I am not out of tricks yet,” he replied evenly. “But I need clear sight of the worgs to use them.”

  She frowned. “Well, don’t get yourself killed.”

  “I can take care of myself,” he said between gritted teeth.

  The whiesper rolled her eyes, but said nothing.

  Kyran clamped his jaws tightly together and did his best not to respond to her needling.

  “Kyran,” said Adra—a welcome interruption, “Two ogres have emerged from the darkness. They are approaching the wall.”

  “Just two?”

  “Yes.”

  Seeing his unfocused gaze, Mirien looked at him questioningly. “Two ogres are approaching the wall,” he told her. “They must intend on breaking through. We can’t hold here if they do. The worgs will swarm the others. Come on, we have to reposition.”

  Mirien nodded, and the trio retreated back to Gaesin and Adra, watching the worgs warily as they did. But the beasts made no move to attack, seemingly content to wait for their masters. Kyran slipped into the mindscape and drew deeply on his psi. Then waited.

  A moment later, two resounding blows struck the ice wall, creating a large, gaping hole in its middle. A river of black poured through—the worgs rushing forward.

  “Adra,” Kyran shouted, “have any more ogres appeared?”

  “No, Kyran.”

  He hadn’t wanted to commit the party’s scant resources until he knew what else lurked in the darkness, but with the worgs racing upslope, he couldn’t wait any longer. “Attack at will,” he shouted and released the weaves of his own spell.

  Psi arced into the charging mass of worgs, saturating the creatures’ minds with dark and turbulent thoughts of violence.

  Kyran has cast enrage beast (radius: 50m, chance to resist: 5%), 22 worgs enraged.

  It was one of Kyran’s quickest casting spells and, given his shortage of psi, the most efficient in the current circumstances. Overcome by the radiating pulse of madness, the pack of worgs devolved into chaos as the afflicted beasts attacked their companions. Of the entire p
ack hurtling upwards, only two managed to continue their charge towards the waiting party.

  “Gaesin, cast slippery ice on the ogres and focus your magical attacks on them. Adra, thin the worgs’ numbers. Their hides should prove easy for your arrows to penetrate.”

  “What did you do?” demanded Mirien.

  He threw her a quick grin. “Just one of my little tricks,” he replied. Pointing to the two worgs rushing towards them, he added, “Leave the one on the right to me. You and Aiken take down the other.”

  “But—”

  “Don’t argue, Mirien!” he barked. “Just do it.”

  He turned away from the whiesper and cast beast befriend. Slipping into the mindscape, he sent rippling strands of psi snaking past the worg’s outer defences. His consciousness expanded along the newly formed psionic pathway and wrapped gently around the creature’s mind.

  Before the worg could react to the intrusion, more threads of psi breached the beast’s mind core and sublimely influenced the worg until, suffused with thoughts of friendship and loyalty, the beast bowed to his will.

  You have successfully befriended a level 25 worg. Duration: 2 days.

  From across the distance separating them, the worg turned eyes shining with devotion towards Kyran and dipped his head in submission. In the mindscape, Kyran felt the creature’s mind as if it was an extension of his own, eager to do his bidding.

  The other worg leapt up to attack Mirien, but was battered away by Aiken’s large paw. Before the dazed beast could regain its feet, Mirien leapt on its back and drew her rapier across its neck.

  Mirien has killed a worg with a vital strike.

  Kyran called the tamed worg to his side. Seeing Mirien hesitantly move in its direction, he shouted, “Leave it, Mirien. I’ve befriended the creature.”

  The elven maiden froze mid-step. Her blade dripping blood, she turned to stare at him blankly, clearly not understanding his meaning.