The dog barked once more.
At this point, anything was preferable to capture for a crime I didn’t commit. They’d called us Oathbreakers. That was a serious accusation and was punishable by death; I remembered that much.
I was not an Oathbreaker. I was a Guardian. That’s what I kept telling myself at least.
I am a Guardian. I am a Guardian. I’m not an Oathbreaker.
I felt like stopping and shouting that. But what good would it do? Like they’d take me at my word?
No, my only option was to keep running.
A loud bang sounded and bits of the trunk from the tree next to me flew into the air. I ducked and cut to the right.
Three more bangs and three more misses.
They’re shooting at me. They’re actually shooting at me. What happened to interrogation or a fair trial?
I guess I couldn’t fault them. We had resisted arrest.
That was it. I was done running. If my pursuer had a gun and a dog, I wouldn't be able to keep this up for long anyway.
Spinning, I drew my bow and nocked an arrow in place then aimed into the darkness, tracking the civie’s flashlight. A bark of victory to my left alerted me to the dog’s presence. I turned just in time get my bow in place before he launched himself at me.
I loosed the arrow at near point-blank range, and the dog collapsed at my feet with a whimper. As I tried to remove my arrow, the dog lashed its teeth out at me, and I quickly withdrew my hand.
I pulled out my dagger and stabbed the poor animal in the side then yanked, ending its life. A soft pulse burst from my affinity mark, indicating I’d gained a level.
Another bullet slammed into the tree above my head. I grabbed my arrow and ran, nocking it once more as I did so.
I tried to get a bead on the civie, but he had turned his flashlight off. He knew where I was and light would only give him away at this point.
Not good.
Creeping through forest, I held my bow with the string taut, ready to let fly at a moment’s notice.
Before I could find him, he found me, tackling me from the side. The impact caused me to release the arrow, and it flew off into the night.
A second later, I slammed into the ground with a heavy weight on top of me.
“You killed Archer! Now I’m going to return the favor!” the man shouted as he punched me in the face.
The irony of the dog’s name was not lost on me, but I had little time to reflect on it.
I grabbed a rock and bashed it into the man’s head. Unfortunately, he was wearing a riot helmet, so all I managed to do was successfully knock him off of me. That was something at least.
The man stood and started to raise his gun.
My eyes went wide, and I lunged at him, grabbing his arm and pushing it high as he pulled the trigger. The blast cut right through a branch, which fell to the ground next to me.
I kept my momentum going and slammed the civie into a tree. The force of the impact knocked his gun free from his hand, but still, it did little to harm him in his full body gear. He kneed me in groin and shoved me off of him.
While I lay on the ground, the man searched desperately for his gun but couldn’t find it. I took a deep breath and stood up painfully.
Clicking on his flashlight, the man found his lost weapon a moment later.
As the civie bent down to pick it up, I rushed forward and shoved him from behind, sending him flying forward to the ground. It wasn’t hard to scoop the gun up as I passed, and before the man could fully get up, I had the gun pointed at him.
“Don’t move,” I said.
He raised his hands and turned around slowly to face me, then ran straight for me without any regard for his life.
I pulled the trigger.
The first shot flew wide. I pulled it again, and this time was greeted with a red flashing light.
Empty?
I dove to the side to avoid being tackled, flipped onto my back, and squeezed the trigger as fast as I could.
The gun continued to work, shooting blast after blast, but every time the gun was pointed at the civie, the weapon flashed red and refused to fire.
Chet.
No wonder Von hated technology—it never worked for you when you needed it most.
I dropped the gun and lifted my gauntlet.
Instead of simply pressing the stone for a single shot, I tried something else. I placed my finger on the stone and held it there. I don’t know what I expected, but when the magika lanced out as normal, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little disappointed.
How had Rayf and Von managed to hold their magic in their hands? How had they gotten so much power out of each hit?
Before my lightning reached him, the civie managed to raise a shield, which harmlessly absorbed my magic. I quickly tapped the stone four more times sending four waves of lightning slamming into his barrier. The first disappeared like the initial wave, the second caused the shield to wink out, and the last two crashed into him, lifting him up off the ground and tossing him back several feet.
After the dust settled, I saw the smoking body of the civie lying on the ground. But somehow, he slowly started to rise.
Seriously?
I stood and drew my bow, loosing arrow after arrow. At least my own weapon hit its mark attack after attack, but the civie’s armor made it nearly impossible to do any significant damage.
Before I could dodge, he was on me a minute later, tackling me to the ground. I felt his hands grip my throat as he began to squeeze. I gasped and wheezed, struggling to breath.
I clawed at his face and knocked his helmet off, but still he kept choking me. In a last-ditch effort, I grabbed his throat and tapped the magika stone on my gauntlet.
His body seized, and he fell off me as he continued to shake from the direct application of my Lightning magic. I wasted no time pulling my dagger and plunged it into his throat.
When his body settled and lay still, I rolled onto my back and stared up at the stars through the branches above. My chest heaved with exhaustion, and pain slowly ebbed its way into my consciousness as the adrenaline started to fade. As I lay there, I glanced down at Leon's tracker still on my hand.
15/77 MP
5,900/8,000 EXP
7 AP AVAILABLE
I didn’t move for at least a minute, and when I tried to sit up, my muscles tightened and shot another stab of pain through my body. It took me another two minutes to get my balance.
Before I wandered off looking for anyone else from my clan, I decided to help myself to the civie’s gear.
It ended up being far better armor than I could have bought with my current income: a pair of strong, black leather boots with two augmentation slots; a pair of matching gloves and bracers of equal quality to the boots, each with one augmentation slot; and best of all, a cuirass that had a layer of chainmail under its flexible, rubberized chestplate, sporting three augmentation slots.
Two of the chestplate’s slots were already filled with what appeared to be a Shield stone and a stone I didn’t recognize that bore the face of an angry person. One of the gauntlets also had a stone. It, too, was a blue stone I didn’t recognize, but the plus mark made me think it might be a Healing stone.
In fact, all of his stones were blue. He didn’t have a single power from one of the other affinities.
Donning the new gear, I was left with a difficult decision. My old gauntlet still had the Lightning stone in it. According to Leon, I could recover the stone, but in turn, I’d have to destroy the gauntlet, which seemed like a waste of a perfectly good—and costly—piece of armor. My other option was to hang onto it and try to sell it for more than I had spent, now that it was augmented.
I decided to leave my old gauntlet alone for now and popped my last attack stone, the Fire magika, into my new bracer.
Lastly, I remembered the black stone still remained in my pocket. Taking it out, I rolled it over in my palm as I looked it over.
Should I augment the Clas
s 2 Stealth stone now or not?
I reflected on the past few minutes and realized that if I’d had invisibility, I might have avoided that whole conflict. But then I wouldn’t have this cool gear, either. So, it was a toss-up.
In the end, I decided that having the option to turn invisible would be quite handy while I was being hunted. Without another moment’s hesitation, I plopped the Stealth stone into the empty slot on my chestplate.
The next question I had was how much it cost to operate? I checked my tracker again to remind myself how much MP I had.
21/77 MP
5,900/8,000 EXP
7 AP AVAILABLE
Didn’t it just say I had 15 MP? It must regenerate when I’m not in active combat.
I ran a quick calculation and determined that I got 1 MP back for every minute that passed. It would take me just under an hour to fully recoup my magic points.
There was no telling how much a Class 2 stone required, though, so I figured it was best to leave it alone for now until more of my MP recovered.
With my new armor ready to go and the civie’s gun in my belt for good measure, it was time for me to be on my way and find my friends.
Eight
More beams of light filled the forest as I got closer to the direction we'd been ambushed. The local officials, or whoever was after us, weren’t playing around.
Why did they want us? And how did they find us? More importantly, how were we going to escape? I tried to quiet the worries in my mind as I got closer to the edge of the forest.
If they had any more dogs, I didn't hear them. They were possibly off looking for the others, which would make dodging them considerably easier—even more so, now that I had the civie’s all-black gear.
I crept through the forest, heading straight for the lights. It might not have made much logical sense for keeping myself hidden, but if I returned to the ambush site, I might be able to figure out where my friends had gone or if they'd been captured. Plus, the last thing these guys expected was for their target to come walking up to them.
Dodging the first two civies was simple since they’d wandered far enough ahead of the main group and were scouting out the surrounding area. I just slipped behind a tree at the appropriate time and kept right on going after their lights had passed me.
Getting beyond the main group would prove to be more of a struggle. From the top of a small knoll where I now stood, I saw at least twelve more armed guards combing through the forest at different intervals.
Because of how they were staggered, it would be impossible for me to hide from all of them at once, unless I skirted them completely—but that would likely take a half an hour or more, and every minute that passed meant less of a chance I’d find my friends.
I cursed myself for leaving the civie’s helmet behind; otherwise, I could have just donned it and walked right through the lot of them. I could potentially still try to without it, but if they somehow recognized me, then even my gear wouldn’t fool them.
I checked my tracker again.
24/77 MP
5,900/8,000 EXP
7 AP AVAILABLE
Hmm…
It wasn’t quite as much as I’d hoped if I wanted to try my Stealth stone. What if invisibility cost too much and I further manaburned my MP? The alternative was to be captured or spend far too much time trying to avoid them.
Ultimately, I decided to take the risk. Even if it cost more MP than I thought and I did lose a point from my max MP, maybe the draught of aloe I’d taken would recover that one as well. Besides, if it didn’t, I could live with one less point if it meant saving my friends.
I was out of time as a beam of light flashed across my face. Fairly certain I was still too far away for them to see me, I knew it wouldn’t take long before they made it to where I stood, and I’d have nowhere to hide.
Tapping the Stealth stone, I watched in awe as my hands—and the rest of me—disappeared from sight. Unfortunately, that also meant I couldn’t check my tracker, but there had been no pain, so I assumed it was within my limit.
I withdrew my dagger for good measure and waited until the first patrolman had passed before I came out of my hiding place and moved quickly toward the tree line. I’d apparently gone a little too fast because the next guard in line spun around at the sound of the crunching leaves beneath my feet.
Their light moved erratically, desperately searching for the source of the sound.
I froze.
Of course, it didn’t make any sense; he couldn’t see me, but it was just a gut reaction.
“What is it?” one of the others called out.
“Nothing,” the closest guard said, confusion clear as day in his voice. “Must have been a fox.”
His light turned away, and he proceeded forward once more.
From that point on, I made sure to be more cautious in my steps, avoiding leaves and fallen branches. The seconds went by, and my heart pounded harder with each step.
The end was in sight. There was only one more guard at the back of the pack to pass.
That’s when my invisibility gave out.
I thought about tapping it again, but the look on his face when he saw me standing six feet away told me it wasn’t worth the manaburn.
His mouth opened, and he went for his gun. But before he could draw it or cry out for help, I rushed in, clamped my hand over his mouth, and thrust my dagger up under his chin. As he died, my affinity mark pulsed, indicating I’d leveled up.
I didn’t have time to dwell on that, though, as the man’s flashlight fell from his hand and sent a beam of light through the forest that was sure to attract attention from the other guards. As quickly and quietly as I could, I dropped his body and dove onto the light, extinguishing it.
Several more beams flashed over my head, and I held my breath for what felt like an eternity. When the lights finally disappeared, I let it go.
Reaching under my body, I found the switch on the flashlight and turned it off. I leaned back and plopped into a sitting position against a tree while my heartbeat steadied.
87/87 MP
2,720/9,000 EXP
8 AP AVAILABLE
In addition to leveling up, I noticed that my MP apparently refilled upon doing so. However, that meant I still had no idea how much it cost to use the Class 2 power. It had to have been less than 21 though. That knowledge provided me a measure of comfort as I realized I could use invisibility at least four more times.
It was difficult to tell for certain, but I guessed the power couldn’t have lasted any longer than 30-45 seconds. Based on my current stats, I could stay invisible for a solid two minutes. Hopefully, I wouldn’t need it, but it was good to know it was an option.
It was also interesting to note the amount of EXP I gained. I did some quick math and realized that the officer I’d killed must have been a level 12. Based on what Leon had said, since he was a higher level than me, I should have gotten 2,400 EXP, but instead I got 4,800. Leon had been right, I was getting double for some reason.
I didn’t have the answer, though, nor did I have the time to figure it out. It was just one more question to store away for later.
After waiting a few more seconds, I stood up cautiously. Even though no flashlights shone my way, I couldn’t be certain someone wasn’t watching or that my form wouldn’t be silhouetted in the light of the moon as I neared the edge of the forest. To be safe, I touched the stone on my chest and activated the invisibility.
I had about 30 seconds to get out of here and out of sight.
Without wasting another second, I ran at full speed, throwing all caution to the wind. If I was heard, so what? They wouldn’t be able to see me.
Bursting forth from the forest, I turned left and ran along the tree line as far as I could before the magic gave out and I once again became visible. The second the power ended, I dove back into the forest and sat crouched behind a bush, listening for any sign of pursuit.
When none came, I let out a long, slow
breath. My hands trembled, and I willed myself to be still.
Calm down, Aren.
Who was I kidding? Someone had tried to kill me, and now I was alone with a fragmented understanding of the world I lived in, and an even smaller one of the power I now held.
Speaking of…
I checked my tracker.
72/87 MP
2,740/9,000 EXP
8 AP AVAILABLE
Two things stood out. First, my Class 2 power had cost me 15 MP. From what I could tell from my earlier experiences, a shot from an augmented bow cost me 1 MP, and the actual use of my Class 1 magic by tapping it cost 5 MP. What would happen if I augmented my weapon with a Class 2? Would it still cost only 1 MP? It was hard to say, but that would have to wait.
Second thing I noticed: using my magic had granted me 20 EXP. And since I was earning double, that meant simply using my powers granted me a base bonus of 10 EXP. I flipped to the other screen to see if anything had changed.
-180 FAME – WANTED
660 RIFKELS
Chet.
I didn’t know what my Fame level meant or what implications it might have, but it didn’t look good. I’d gone negative. How had that even happened? The closest thing I could figure was that I had earned 5 Fame for each beast I had killed and lost 100 for each civie.
It’s not like I wanted to kill the law enforcement. But it was do or die. That’s what I at least kept telling myself.
What was strangely odd was that I felt no remorse. It was like I’d been killing for ages, though I had no recollection of doing so prior to this point. Perhaps some subconscious part of my brain that justified the killing for the sake of survival or adrenaline was overriding any normal emotional reaction.
Whatever. It didn’t matter. What did was finding my friends and getting out of here before we got caught.
Standing up, I peered out onto the open plain. Bright lights shone in the darkness from the direction I’d come, as well as farther out into the open field. I could make out the silhouettes of two air cruisers blocking the source of the light.
Sworn Guardian: A LitRPG/GameLit Adventure (Forbidden Magic Book 1) Page 6
