Court of Thorns: A LitRPG Story

by C. J. Carella

  “If I could take a couple days off, I would. Doesn’t sound like it’s an option.”

  “No, unfortunately. But do try to be careful. Every time your patrons have to help you out they have to pay a hefty price. Saving your life means not saving some other deserving person’s life. Or being unable to intervene when a continent burns down.”

  “Noted. Where do we go from here?”

  “The gate will take you to the Final Chamber of the Emerald Wing. You will need to defeat the Emerald Incarnate. The final boss of the wing, you would say. And the Emerald Incarnate has been turned into a Duke of Entropy. An Emerald Entropic Incarnate, if you’d like.”

  “Can’t say I like it. Will killing it fix the problem?”

  “Hardly. Doing so will, however, grant you access to the Labyrinth Core and its wielder. An Archduke of Entropy, powered by a Chaos Core. Very dangerous.”

  “So we have to kill the Duke of Earl and destroy its Core. That will fix the Labyrinth.”

  The floating headed grinned. “Yes. In the sense that the Core’s destruction will eradicate the Labyrinth.”

  “The city of Akila won’t like that.”

  “The city of Akila would like a full-fledged Chaos incursion even less. But you might be able to transform the Core and remove the Chaos taint. Then the Labyrinth would remain. With some changes.”

  “Nobody’s beat the original Labyrinth boss. The new one will be worse.”

  “It is. You will be facing an Archduke of Entropy with the full power of the Malleus Mallum behind him. And he also has all the abilities of the original Labyrinth Master, a being known as Grendel Shadow Walker, Slayer of Heroes. Its abode is anchored to the Elemental Planes. To Crystal City, as a matter of fact.”

  “A higher Realm? As in a higher level cap?”

  “Yes. Crystal City has a ‘level cap’ of forty. The Labyrinth is weaker. Beings up to level thirty can use their full power there.”

  And here I thought going up against a twenty-fifth level monster was bad. “We can’t beat that.”

  “Your group as it is constituted lacks the power to defeat the Labyrinth Master. Even besting the Emerald Incarnate may not give you enough of a boost. Perhaps you should seek help.”

  Hawke thought about returning to Akila and recruiting a full-sized raid. Thirty or forty Adventurers, maybe. Except that most of them would be below level twenty. They would get slaughtered. Against bosses, people needed to be able to survive massive amounts of damage on their own or they would die long before healers could help them. He needed high-level assistance.

  “Where the hell am I going to find help?”

  “Not in this area, that’s for sure,” the Gatekeeper said. “Your group is the last one being allowed through my gate. I can only hold it open for another twelve hours or so.”

  “Why?”

  “The Labyrinth is changing. Destroying some chambers, creating new ones. Redesigning the entire thing to allow the monsters from the lower floors to travel to the top ones. And eventually escape. In twelve hours, they will be able to reach this room and transform it. This gate would help them escape into the wider world, so rather than let them have it, I will have to destroy it.”

  “You could fight them off, couldn’t you?”

  “If you mean defeat them in battle, almost certainly, although fighting Chaos Lords can get tricky even for Arbiters. But I’m not allowed. Rules, you know.”

  “Rules for you, but not for them. How does that work?”

  “The rules were made for a good reason. They aren’t perfect, but even the enemy has to work within the system. They can bend the rules, even break a few, but believe me, if there weren’t any rules, things would be a lot worse.”

  “Sounds like bull crap to me.”

  “Think about it. Let’s say the bad guys – the Court of Thorns, in this case – break one rule. That is bad. If we turn around and break another rule in return, that is two broken rules. That is worse. So we bend them here or there instead. In your particular case, there has been a lot of bending of rules. From multiple sources. So don’t complain.”

  Hawke wanted to yell at the Arbiter, but it wouldn’t do any good. The more he learned about the Arbiters, the more he realized they lived under as many restrictions as everyone else in the Realms. They worked for the system but didn’t control it. Even the Makers had to play the game the way it had been designed. The rebels were hacking the system; how long before they broke it?

  “However, there is a place where you can find sanctuary,” the Gatekeeper went on. “And where you might be able to seek help.”

  “I’m all ears.”

  “After defeating the Entropic Emerald Incarnate, you will gain access to an Antechamber that leads to the Deepest Pits, where the Labyrinth Master dwells. That chamber is isolated from the rest of the Labyrinth, much like this one, and you can stay there safely for as long as you desire. Well, for a few days, which is how long you have before the Labyrinth is completely subverted. More importantly, it has an exit from the Labyrinth. One that leads to Crystal City.”

  “Better than nothing, I guess,” Hawke said.

  From what his mother-in-law had said, the city was a hotbed of adventurers and mercenaries, an enclave of regular races in a magical crossroads linking the different Elemental Realms. He should be able to recruit some of them. If he had to, he could visit Kassia’s guild, although that was his last choice. Owing a favor to her or the sect she represented was not likely to be a good thing, assuming that they were interested after learning who his patron was.

  “If we leave the Labyrinth, can we come back?” he asked the Arbiter.

  “Yes. You will return to the Antechamber through the same gateway that delivered you to Crystal City. If you are gone for more than twelve hours, all quests will be reset and any progress made in them will be lost.”

  “I can live with that. I have no idea how long it’s going to take to recruit some help. Maybe a day or two?”

  That estimate wasn’t even a wild ass guess, it was more like wishful thinking. For all he knew, nobody would help him out unless he paid them, and he didn’t know how much that would cost. He still had fifty-three Soul Shards left, plus a few platinum and a couple thousand gold coins; he had no idea how far his cash would get him in a higher Realm. It might take him a week or longer for all he knew. And they didn’t have that long.

  “The next stage in the Labyrinth’s collapse will take place in twelve to sixteen hours. That will give the enemy access to semi-independent areas in the Labyrinth like this room or the Secret Staircase in the Onyx Wing. After that, in forty-eight to seventy-two hours, creatures from all areas will be able to travel the Labyrinth at will. More monsters will leak out into the world, likely enough to threaten Akila. Another forty-eight to seventy-two hours after that, all restraints keeping its denizens trapped will break down altogether and every monster in the Labyrinth will be released. All areas, including the Antechamber, will be absorbed. Even worse, as the monsters leave the Labyrinth they will be replaced by the system. The Malleus Mallum will become a monster factory.”

  “Okay. So three or four days before everything goes to hell, and if we can’t make it back in five days we might as well not bother.”

  “Yes. Assuming the process does not accelerate, of course.”

  “Great. And we have to beat the Emerald Wing’s boss first. At least a Chaos Duke has to be easier than an Archduke.”

  “It is. In the sense that it is easier to defeat a small child than an adult. Unless you are an ant, in which case the difference is moot.”

  Hawke grinned. It wasn’t a nice grin.

  “That’s okay. We’ll be the meanest ants in the damn playground.”

  Twenty-Three

  You have accepted a Quest: End the Malleum Mallum

  Chaos has infected the Malleus Mallum Labyrinth. Left unchecked, its denizens will break free and terrorize all the Common Realm.

  Quest Objective: Enter the Deepest Pit
s, destroy the Labyrinth Master and claim, destroy, or purify the Labyrinth Core.

  Quest Rewards: 10,000 Experience, 2 Soul Shards; +250 Reputation with the Triune Goddesses, +100 Global Renown.

  Penalties for Failure: -50 Reputation with the Triune Goddesses, -5 Global Renown.

  The party had gone through the gate and reached a seemingly natural cavern. There was only one exit tunnel, which would lead to the Emerald Incarnate, Entropic version. They could stay in the ‘way station’ for up to 24 hours, but if they didn’t leave before then, the Labyrinth would kick them back to the entrance. The only good news was that the Emerald Wing’s final zone was outside the Common Realm and had a level cap of 25. That meant all the over-twenty members of the team could fight at their full potential and that his Party Leader abilities would raise everyone’s effective level accordingly.

  Everyone looked glum after Hawke explained the situation and his plan to deal with it. Their time with the Gatekeeper had already ruined their mood. They all had a private conversation with the disguised Arbiter while Hawke was having his own chat. The price to go through the gate had been a measly thousand Experience, as promised, but the personal interviews had upset most of them. Only Tava and Gosto seemed fine. Hawke figured that whatever had happened could wait until they were done.

  “Let me get this straight,” Amelia said. “We have to beat an upgraded level 25 boss, then go to a city in a higher Realm in the hopes to round up some volunteers?”

  “Yes. Although we don’t all have to go to Crystal City. After we beat the Entropic Duke we can camp out in the antechamber to the final boss. I can go by myself if I have to.”

  “You will not,” Tava said firmly. “We should all go as a party.”

  “Having over a dozen people plus beasties wandering around a strange city might not be the best idea,” Grognard noted. “Especially if we have to pay for lodgings.”

  “And we’re noobs,” Aristobulus said. “Many of us aren’t even level twenty yet. The Elemental Planes run all the way to max level, depending on the area.”

  “Crystal City is capped at forty, but yeah, we’ll all be near the bottom of the pecking order. Okay. Maybe we only send a small group into the city while the rest wait in the antechamber.”

  Aristobulus and Amelia didn’t seem interested in trying their luck in Crystal City. Zippo, on the other hand, looked eager to go. Everyone else was torn between curiosity and worry. Kassia had made the city sound relatively law-abiding. About the same as Akila, which meant big public areas and the better neighborhoods would be safe – and also expensive. Getting rooms for a dozen people and pets would probably wipe out their cash reserves.

  “First things first,” Hawke said. “None of this matters until we get past the level’s boss. Did any of you beat the original Emerald Incarnate?”

  Nobody had. “My party tried,” Amelia said. “After the Gatekeeper sent us there. We lasted maybe a minute before the survivors ran for their lives.”

  “We were planning to do a full raid in the Emerald Wing,” Aristobulus added. “Before things got… complicated. Never got the chance, but we did read up on the Incarnate. There are books about all the main bosses. Almost like game guides, you know?”

  “Yeah, I read some of them,” Hawke said. “But firsthand experience is better. So what would we be dealing with?”

  Amelia spoke up. “The final boss is – was – an incarnation of Akaton. That’s a Death god some of the Wild Fae worship.”

  “I’ve met him,” Hawke said. “Looks like a centaur, except the lower half is a bear and the upper half is a horned furry Elf-looking guy.”

  “That describes the boss to a t,” Amelia said.

  Aristobulus was more curious about the rest of Hawke’s sentence. “You’ve met an incarnation of Akaton?”

  “Nah. I met the actual furry, god, whatever. Not a nice guy.”

  The Nerf Herders weren’t sure whether to be impressed or skeptical, but Hawke’s friends grinned.

  “My husband meets regularly with deities and Arbiters,” Tava said proudly. “You should remember that before attempting to cross him.”

  “Okay,” Amelia said. “In any case, the original boss was about twenty feet tall, could fire off bolts of Death and Life energy, and had an area attack called Blood Mist that will suck a couple thousand Health from anybody within fifty feet and transfer it to him; only good thing is that it has a one-minute prep time. Another one-minute ability will cause roots to immobilize anybody within a hundred feet, doing a good thousand damage on top of that. He also creates energy shields that negate Life and Death magic and a defensive aura that stops of a lot of incoming damage, plus high regen. And carries a spear that will one-shot anybody who isn’t a tank. It can call adds too; a dozen Nature Guardians every three minutes.”

  “Sounds like fun. And to all that, we’ve got to add Chaos powers. Bad luck. Entropy.”

  Aristobulus considered that. “Probably will make all our magic and other attacks less effective.”

  “We have to go for a quick kill. Burst damage to break through the auras, damage-over-time spells and attacks to counteract his regeneration. Alba’s poisons. Zippo, you can do both DOT and burst damage. Stick to single target spells and you’ll do fine.”

  “How about the adds?” the Fire Wizard asked. “You need AOEs to deal with the adds.”

  “Aristobulus and the other casters will handle the AOEs. You concentrate on the boss.”

  Zippo shrugged but stopped arguing. Hopefully that was a good sign.

  “Gosto, you’ll be the main healer,” Hawke went on. “Nature magic isn’t going to do much against a Wild Sidhe boss, so keeping people alive takes priority.”

  “Of course,” the Druid Warden said. Hawke’s brother-in-law was a team player. He’d missed adventuring with Gosto. Hopefully there would be more chances in the future.

  “All right, we’ll break for dinner and rest here for eight hours. We want to be fresh for this. And I want to prepare a few surprises for the boss.”

  Interlude: A Disposition of Forces And Some Gaming Stats

  Just before he caught some shut-eye, Hawke went over the basic stats of his teammates. Everyone had claimed their new levels, except for a couple who were holding one or two of them for an emergency, and he wanted to familiarize himself with everyone’s capabilities. It took some work; counting the pets, his party had fifteen members, including himself. Not quite a 25-man raiding party, but larger than the five- and ten-person teams that were the norm in most games he’d played, back when magic, classes and levels had been meaningless pictures and numbers on a screen designed to let him kill a few (or lots of) hours of his life.

  Alba Bastardes (Human)

  Level 19 (24 with Leadership bonus)

  Shadow Assassin, Spymaster

  Health 1,462 Mana 1,213 Endurance 1,155

  Alba’s Shadow Assassin class gave her most of Hawke’s Ninja tricks, minus the Paladin elements. She knew Darkness and Twilight spells and had a variety of special abilities that allowed her to ambush targets, find their weaknesses, set up and disarm magical traps, and deliver poison in a variety of ways. Her study of alchemy had augmented her poison lore with a variety of toxic or explosive concoctions. Her Spymaster abilities were less useful in a dungeon crawl, but they included several sensory spells that allowed her to listen to distant conversations, plant magical tracers and ‘bugs’ on targets, and otherwise get into everyone’s business.

  Amelia Blueflame (Human, Eternal)

  Level 20 (24 with Leadership bonus)

  Elemental Mistress

  Health 812 Mana 3,456 Endurance 980

  Amelia had gone full spellcaster specialist, tripling up on her original Mage class, first with the Elite class Elemental Mage, and then again at level 20, turning the class into Elemental Mistress. The latest version had replaced both previous classes and increased her mastery of all four ‘classical’ Elements (Air, Earth, Fire and Water). She could summon a variety of figh
ting and utility pets (her water Undines could serve as assistant healers, for example) and knew all the standard attack spells, from Fireball and Lightning Bolt to Meteor Shower. Her specialty allowed her to increase the damage and ‘penetration’ of her spells, which ignored a good percentage of her targets’ resistance values. Furthermore, she could imbue her spells with additional Elements, much like Hawke could improve his spells with Forces. Her combat spells could burn, freeze and pummel you all at once in combinations that would ruin your day. Her natural attributes and gear focused on Mana; she was a monster in that department.

  Aristobulus Highgarden (Human, Eternal)

  Level 21 (24 with Leadership bonus)

  Archmage (formerly Mage-Scryer)

  Health 642 Mana 5,824 Endurance 872

  The graybeard was another specialist, having started out as an ordinary Mage, added Scryer as his second class, and then melded them all into the Archmage elite class at level 20. He had learned eighteen schools of magic so far and knew over a hundred and twenty spells. His Archmage abilities allowed him to modify his spells, increasing their base damage, range, or area of effect, at the cost of more Mana, although he couldn’t change their actual effects or combine different spells. Not yet, at least. And he had the most Mana in the group, thanks to his Archmage bonuses.

  Unlike Amelia, Aristobulus had no healing abilities of any kind, not even through summoned critters. As a former Scryer, he had access to multiple spells of detection, observation and communication, something Hawke should have been using more. He had been keeping the former Nerf Herders at arm’s length; that needed to change if they were going to survive the coming fight.

  The guy was devoted to the study of magic and desperately wanted Hawke to teach him Mana Channeling and Spellcraft. Hawke hadn’t made any promises, but he thought the magic nerd might be a good addition to the guild, as long as he could be kept away from any position of political power.