Hate: A LitRPG Novel (Tower of Gates Book 2)

by Paul Bellow

  Sarah pulled her hand away, staying silent.

  “Here you go.” Ferris pulled a glowing broadsword out of a bag at his side. “If you kill him with this sword, you might trap him as a low-level NPC.”

  Sherlock rubbed his hands together at the thought.

  “With him unable to become a player character, we can find a way out of this game.”

  Bernard clapped his hands together.

  “That’s what I’m talking about,” he said.

  I walked toward Ferris and took the sword from him.

  Magic Item: FAST Sword +5

  This broadsword deals 1d10 damage + 5/x3 Critical. It has +25% to hit modifier. The bearer of this sword created by Ferris, Aaron, Sherlock, and Thom will always go first in an encounter. When used against another player character, they have a 25% chance of losing 1d3 NPC lives if this sword delivers the killing strike.

  “What about us?” Bernard asked.

  “In the morning,” Ferris said. “We’re finishing them up. Tonight, you can stay here and rest up for the final leg of your quest.”

  “Can you help us find a red mage and an elven ranger?” I asked.

  Sherlock shook his head.

  “No,” he said. “Would that be a helpful spell?”

  “Are you kidding?” I asked.

  He grinned.

  “We lost some magic schools by building our own,” he said. “Find person and detection spells were the main ones we swapped for our custom mods.”

  I nodded, amazed at what they’d been able to accomplish in the game.

  “You should come with us to destroy Magi Inyontoo,” I said.

  Bernard nodded and added, “Yeah. We could use the help.”

  “It would be fun,” Ferris said. “But we have adventures on higher levels to finish. Now that we know you’re working on this low-level quest, we need to make sure everything’s ready on the higher levels.”

  “How far into the game have you been?” Sarah asked.

  “Too far,” Ferris said. “Way too far.”

  “And you didn’t find a way out?” she asked.

  “No,” Ferris said. “Not yet.”

  “Will we meet you again?” I asked.

  “That depends on the decisions you make and the mood of the game,” Sherlock said. “The AI can be moody at times.”

  I nodded, wishing they’d tell us more.

  “We can’t tell them anymore,” Ferris said. “You guys know the rules.”

  “The rules?” I asked.

  Sherlock nodded.

  “The rules of the game,” he said. “We’ve said too much already. You three should rest and prepare yourselves for this final leg of your journey. We’ll have your other magic items in the morning.”

  “You can find a room upstairs on the sleeping levels,” Ferris said. “We need to work on these last two items for you before we leave.”

  The Four Wizards turned and headed toward the stairs.

  “One more question,” I said as they walked away.

  All four stopped then turned.

  “Where are the Dwarves?” I asked.

  Thom smiled, but none of them said anything.

  “It’s a long story,” Sherlock said. “Maybe some other time. If you’ll excuse us, we need to get ready for our raid.”

  They left us in the vast room above the dragon in a cavern.

  I turned to Sarah.

  “What did they say to you upstairs?” I asked.

  “Not much,” she said. “They’re preparing for some high-level quest that needs to be completed. I asked for more information, but they wouldn’t tell me. We should rest up and leave in the morning.”

  “Agreed,” I said. “Let’s go find a room.”

  We walked up the stone staircase then wandered around until we eventually found the countless bedrooms upstairs.

  Each of us claimed our own room. Mine contained a four-poster bed with wooden posts and a thick, firm mattress—even the pillows were quality.

  I took off my armor then climbed into the bed.

  My mind wandered over all the events that had led us that far in the game.

  Such a long time.

  A human rogue with hobgoblin armor, wielding an experimental magical sword forged by four wizards trapped in the game for forty years.

  What could possibly go wrong? I thought, grinning as I close my eyes.

  10

  Bringing Out Their Evil Dead

  Sarah

  * * *

  In the morning, we stood inside the tower with Ferris, Aaron, Sherlock, and Thom. Sherlock held a thick, intricately carved wooden staff.

  “This is the first of its kind,” he said. “Now it’s yours.”

  He handed the staff to me, and I wrapped my fingers around it. Various sized holes covered it from top to bottom.

  “Thanks,” I said, admiring the handiwork. “What does it do?”

  “It charges other wands,” Ferris said. “Pop a wand in one of the numerous holes in the staff, and it will get back one charge per day.”

  “Most of the time,” Thom said. “It’s still a bit buggy, but we worked out most of the problems.”

  I nodded, gripping the staff tightly.

  “Another feature is it allows your party to talk OOC whenever you want without a penalty,” Ferris said. “We call it the Staff of the Party.”

  “That’s what I’m talking about,” Bernard said. “Screw this game!”

  I smiled as he took out his frustration by talking out of character.

  “When others hear you speaking OOC,” Sherlock said. “It’ll sound like gibberish to them. There’s no limit on how many times you can use that power. It’s effective in a fifty foot radius.”

  “Others as in NPCs, or are you talking about players too?” Eric asked. “Will it be gibberish to them too?”

  “It’ll mask the talk from anyone not in your group,” he said. “Any other questions?”

  “What about Bernard?” Eric asked.

  Thom smiled and stepped forward with a pair of sparkling slippers in his left hand.

  “Glitter slippers?” Bernard asked.

  “They’re for stealth,” Ferris said. “We thought you might find them useful.”

  Bernard took the slippers, turning them over and examining them closely.

  “How do slippers covered in glitter help with sneaking?” he asked.

  “Magic,” Thom said then smiled.

  “If you won’t wear them, I will,” Eric said.

  “No, no,” Bernard said. “They’re fine. If they work, I’ll wear them.”

  “They work well,” Sherlock said. “We would give you more, but the game loves balance even with hacks.”

  “Hacks?” I asked.

  Ferris nodded.

  “It’s how we got the sword to steal NPC lives when it kills,” he said. “Took a long time to figure that one out, but we got it.”

  “Can you tell us anything else?” Eric asked.

  “No,” Sherlock said. “I’m sure you’ll do fine.”

  “Thanks for the gifts,” I said. “They mean a lot. I hope we meet you four again.”

  “Very likely,” Sherlock said, stroking his long, soft beard. “If you step over here into this chalk circle, we can teleport you to the southern tower.”

  “That’ll be helpful,” Eric said. “Thanks.”

  “Don’t mention it,” Thom said. “It’s nothing for us.”

  I followed Bernard and Eric into the chalk circle on the stone floor of Ferris’ tower. The Four Wizards surrounded us while chanting.

  After a loud bang, I blinked and found myself in another room with wooden floors; Bernard and Eric materialized at the same time.

  “Wild,” I said. “Those four are so cool.”

  “I wish they would’ve come with us,” Eric said. “But let’s get going.”

  “There’s a door,” Bernard pointed, and it opened without any problems.

  Outside, we found three fresh
horses tied to a nearby post. We walked over and found them stocked.

  “Those wizards rock,” Bernard climbed onto a tan colored horse. “We’re going to catch up to Rizzo and Sylvar in no time.”

  “If they even came down this far south,” Eric said.

  “They probably did.” I climbed on the white horse. “We need to get the monkey ghoul brains before them.”

  Eric got on the brown horse.

  “Then we ride to Top Henge as fast as we can,” he said. “No stopping unless it’s necessary. Maybe we can make it first.”

  “We can try,” I said. “Let’s go.”

  Bernard and I followed Eric as he rode south toward the ancient runes known as Top Henge. I didn’t know too much about the location.

  Sam the Cartographer had marked it as the best place to find monkey ghoul brains, so it was our last stop for Dawn Acid items. A few minutes into our journey, I remembered my new staff and turned to Bernard on my left.

  “What was it like being an NPC?” I asked.

  “You don’t have a class, and you can’t level,” he said. “You can pick a career if you want, but most people try to get into another party as soon as possible.”

  “I can’t imagine what it would be like,” Eric said.

  “Me either,” I added.

  “That’s all in the past,” Bernard said. “I’m lucky you two snuck into the game.”

  “Us three,” I said, correcting him.

  “Oh, yeah,” Bernard said. “Your friend. We still haven’t found him.”

  “He has to be around somewhere,” Eric said. “I’m sure he’s fine.”

  “Maybe he found a way out of the game,” Bernard said.

  “And leave me in here?” I shook my head. “He wouldn’t do that to me.”

  We rode down the dirt road a few more minutes in silence. I thought about everything we’d accomplished up to that point. For some, it wouldn’t seem like a lot, but we had leveled up and were on our way to re-steal a cursed magic item from the most powerful player in the game.

  We’d achieve our goals by taking one step at a time.

  The game couldn’t trap us forever, could it?

  A cold chill ran down my spine at the thought.

  “What if we get trapped in here forever?” I asked.

  Our horses continued forward at a steady rate.

  “What do you mean?” Eric asked. “You don’t think there’s a way out?”

  “Maybe,” I said. “We’ve met people who have been in here a long time.”

  “Like me,” Bernard said.

  “Yeah...” I said then took a deep breath.

  “We’ll find a way out,” Eric said. “If we don’t, my father or someone will find us eventually and get us out of here. Nothing lasts forever.”

  Bernard snorted in disbelief.

  “I’ve heard that before,” he said.

  “There’s always a way out,” Eric said. “Why would they build a game you can never escape? It doesn’t make any sense.”

  I believed in Eric, but the fears lurking deep in my mind wouldn’t go away.

  “Those four wizards sure are something else,” I said to change the subject.

  Eric chuckled. I turned to look at him.

  “What?” I asked.

  “Just thinking about Wiley—that red dragon of theirs,” he said.

  “You could’ve gotten killed,” I said. “Which wouldn’t be good.”

  “Aw,” he teased. “You care about me?”

  “You know I do,” I said in a serious tone.

  Everyone fell silent again. The miles added up as we traveled down the plain road with fields of tall grass on either side of us.

  “I’m going to scout ahead,” Bernard said. “Do you two mind?”

  “No,” Eric said. “That would be great.”

  Bernard spurred his horse and rode ahead of us.

  “He’s a good guy,” I said after he left.

  “I think so too,” Eric said. “But...”

  His voice trailed off.

  “But what?” I asked.

  “I don’t know,” he said. “There’s something about him.”

  “You say that about everyone, Eric.”

  I couldn’t get over using his real name without a penalty. Doing so helped me remember the outside world and our real lives.

  “Don’t forget I was right about Sylvar,” he said.

  “A stopped clock is right two times a day,” I retorted.

  “Yeah...”

  “Do you think he’ll attack us again?” I asked.

  “I hope so,” Eric said. “I really do.”

  We rode on, passing several mysterious piles of bones. Bernard and Eric brushed them off as meaningless details, but I wasn’t so sure.

  I kept my mouth closed and my eyes open as we kept riding. With luck, we’d run into some monkey ghouls on the way and get their brains.

  The game owed us as far as I was concerned. We’d been through so much since spawning as our characters. I’d love an easy end to our quest.

  Later that evening, I checked our map of the area by the light of the moon above. We had no way of knowing where we were located.

  “How much longer?” I asked as I put the map away.

  “You just looked at the map,” Eric said then chuckled.

  “I couldn’t figure out where we are now,” I said.

  “We’re closer,” Charlotte said in her quiet voice. “I can sense it.”

  Eric smiled.

  “GPS spider,” he said.

  “Someone’s coming,” Bernard said.

  He pointed down the road. I saw a disheveled man pulling a hand-cart down the middle of the road.

  Was it full of bodies?

  “Bring out your dead,” the man yelled as he got closer.

  “Hold up,” Eric said, stopping his horse.

  Bernard and I did the same, watching as the cart-man got closer. He stopped a few hundred feet away; his body and clothes covered in grime.

  “Do you have any dead bodies?” he asked in a flat tone.

  “No, we don’t,” I said. “Where are the bodies from?”

  “The graveyards are emptying,” the man said, keeping his head lowered. “It’s a hell of a time to be alive.”

  “What’s emptying the graveyards?” I asked.

  “You’ll find out,” he said then stumbled forward. “Bring out your dead…”

  He kept shouting the phrase as he passed between us.

  I glanced from Eric to Bernard then back again.

  “Do you think we’ll run into undead?” I asked. “Skeletons creep me out.”

  “We’re looking for monkey ghouls,” Eric said. “There’s a chance other undead might be around. We should be ready for anything.”

  “I wish I was a real cleric right about now,” Bernard said.

  “You and me both,” I said.

  “Hey,” Eric said. “Do you still have that healing wand from when we first met you?”

  Bernard nodded.

  “Yeah,” he said. “I guess I should let Sarah charge it up.”

  “Give it to me,” I said, anxious to see how the staff worked. “We can charge the summon monster wand too. I almost forgot.”

  Bernard handed me his birch wand. I placed it into a matching hole on the staff, making it look like a broken hat-rack.

  “Nice,” Eric said.

  “I don’t care how it looks if it works,” I said.

  We continued down the road toward Top Henge.

  A few miles later, I saw a tall, wrought iron fence in the distance.

  “Graveyard ahead,” Bernard said. “Maybe that’s where the guy in the cart came from earlier?”

  “Maybe,” Eric said.

  We slowed down as we drew closer.

  “The sun would have to go down right about now,” I said.

  “I see someone standing in between the tombstones,” Eric stopped his horse and pointed; I followed his finger.

 
“Who is it?” I asked.

  “Only one way to find out.” Eric got off his horse. “Hold my horse. I’ll be right back.”

  “No way,” I said. “We’re sticking together.”

  “I can stay back and hold the horses,” Bernard offered.

  “We might need you,” I said as I climbed off my ride.

  Bernard got down too.

  Eric led his horse toward the iron fence around the graveyard. I followed, wondering about all the tombstones on the other side.

  “Take it slow and easy,” Eric said.

  I glanced over my shoulder and saw Bernard following us.

  We reached the black fence and stopped. Eric tied up his horse then crept toward the gate not too far away. I did the same, my heart racing.

  “There better not be skeletons,” I said as we walked.

  “Or something worse,” Bernard said from behind me.

  At the open gate, we stopped again. The figure turned, revealing red, glowing eyes. Its long, black robes hung in tatters from its gaunt frame.

  “That’s not a skeleton,” Eric said.

  “And not a monkey ghoul,” Bernard added.

  “Maybe a lich?” I asked. “We should go back and ride away.”

  “Not yet,” Eric said.

  I hated his stubbornness.

  “We’re too low-level to take on a lich,” I said.

  “She’s right,” Bernard said.

  “It’s too late to turn back now,” Eric said. “It’s walking this way.”

  The creature in black robes with mystical eyes stretched out its arms and lumbered forward with an unearthly hiss.

  “Battle positions,” Eric yelled.

  I stopped with my staff planted firmly in the ground.

  Why hadn’t the Four Wizards given me an offensive staff or something useful?

  “Halt in the name of all that’s holy,” Eric said with his new sword drawn.

  The broadsword glowed in the quickly darkening post-dusk light. I realized this stupid graveyard encounter was the giant bees all over again.

  Eric had barreled into a situation that might get us all killed. If we survived the encounter with the lich, I planned to give him a piece of my mind.

  “Me too,” Charlotte thought.

  “You dare disturb my resting ground?” the creature hissed. “Prepare to die.”