Into the Darkness: A Fantasy LitRPG Adventure (Axe Druid Book 4)

by Christopher Johns

  After about ten minutes, a fluttering sensation in my hand, and the raven settled in my grasp.

  “It is, it’s not too advanced either, so you don’t have to worry about blowing anything up with your negligence,” he ribbed.

  … haha, you little bastard. Ha. Ha.

  “All you’ll need to do is have the proper intent and a good engraving for wind. A catalyst might help, too because the conversion could get tricky. A component with a decent attachment to the element would be a good idea as well, but to keep it simple, it is possible.” He completed his statement, and the raven was still once more.

  So, then I could do it. It was just going to take some leg work. Sounded good to me!

  I pulled out the blanket that I slept with on the road and made myself a makeshift egg carrier so that the object would sit in the center of my chest so that my hands were free.

  Thinking on it, I decided that a good component would be necessary for this and I had to find one. If I recalled correctly from my lessons with Shellica, quartz, emerald, amethyst, and opals held strong affinities for the air element.

  I shifted through my inventory as best as I could, not finding anything of value until, eureka! I pulled out a mid-sized chunk of opal roughly the size of a quarter and about an eighth of an inch at its thickest.

  I took out a bag and slowly carved into the opal with the nail of my metallic hand easily over a small handkerchief that I had picked up in town for these occasions. It only took a couple minutes; precious molecules of the gem powder escaping into the air as we rode, but I did the best I could.

  I reached back into my inventory in search of some sort of glove, or gauntlet. Metal would be best. Nada. Damn it.

  Anyone got a metal glove or something they aren’t using, and that is not enchanted already? I broadcasted to the others. Better quality metal appreciated.

  I looked about as the others sorted through their inventories, then Yohsuke replied, Got a metal one here, iron. Also, Muu, get something shitty, like a snack out of yours. We don’t want Manly to know we can speak this way.

  I glanced toward Muu and saw him pull out a small notebook and quill and begin to take notes on what she was saying.

  Well, that’s one way to do it. I snickered.

  I have one, left-handed mithril, James offered.

  Better than what I have, Bokaj said, then grunted. Muu and Balmur were quiet.

  Jaken answered next, same here.

  James rode back, and slyly handed the item to me.

  “Why did you have this?” I frowned at him.

  “I picked it up a while back, wondering if it could be used as a weapon, but before you could enchant it, I got my two other ones so I figured I’d just hang onto it. Just until Balmur or Jaken start cranking out things of Granda’s level, I think I’m good with these ones, for now.” He clapped me on the shoulder with a grin and rode off on his long, Chinese golden dragon.

  Monks and their awesome shit. My Kirin, Thor, was amazing in his own rights.

  But back into enchanting for now. We can drool over my mount later.

  Thinking back to the mark on my chest that symbolized my connection to the element of wind, gifted to me by the Primordial Wind Elemental, I frowned. I didn’t want to go with the tornado that I now had on my chest around the spell pentagram.

  I called out to the others, “I’m going to go to the bathroom for a second, I’ll catch up!”

  Manly looked back at me. “Should we stop?”

  Muu snorted. “I live with him, terrible idea with the smells that can escape him. Slowing down would be nice but stopping could kill us all.”

  Their chuckling at my expense was alright, but the others frowned at me askance. I shook my head and waved them away so I could focus a moment.

  But the old one would likely work. “Hey Thor, would you mind stopping for a moment?”

  “As you wish, druid.” Thor stopped just long enough for me to take my mana and use it to engrave a pattern of lines, thick in the center and thinner at the ends that chased each other in a never-ending circle.

  I hopped off his back and went behind a tree to act like I was doing my business, then realized I was still out of my depth here, and if I fucked this up, our goose was cooked. I hopped back onto Thor with a bitter scowl.

  “Thank you, Thor, you can catch us up to the others, buddy.” The mythical steed snorted and dug his claws and hooves into the ground before driving us forward swiftly to catch up to the others.

  I set about gathering my will and intent before I began to question the design. Was it too simple? Was I overthinking it? Fuck. Was there going to need to be…yeah. There would. Because Xiphyre had mentioned the catalyst.

  “We planning on taking a break for a second, any time soon?” I asked Manly as she continued to speak to Muu.

  “Why’s that? We only been on the road a couple hours,” she drawled and stretched.

  Fuck. That was fair. Uh. I mean, I guess I could wait and formulate the right pattern that I wanted, right?

  “You know what? I thought I had to go to the bathroom, but it turns out it was just gas.” I smiled placatingly, shrugging as I continued, “I was asking just in case I need to stop and move things about or stand to get things going, you know?”

  “Ol’ Humphrey gets like that too, Zeke, so no harm there.” Her snorted laughter almost made me join her. If it hadn’t been for the lie, I might have.

  So, until we broke for lunch, I would be taking wind elemental form to try and keep this egg alive and get it ready to hatch. Which I did. It wasn’t hard, really. I just tied the makeshift egg holder to Thor’s saddle and did the best I could, the others did their best to distract Manly while I rode in the rear to try and feed the egg mana as an elemental.

  While we rode, Kayda relayed what she saw—nothing—and the others did the same. There was fuck all around us. And that gave me a decent amount of time to contemplate how I wanted to do the glove.

  When we did finally stop, I made like I had to go to the shitter again and had the others watch Manly. I don’t know why I didn’t want her to see me enchanting, but I just didn’t. I didn’t fully trust her, but if she saw my elemental form, I would just try to play it off as an ability I had. Enchanting seemed like so much more of a personal and dangerous thing in her company.

  Once I was far enough away from them, I began the process of engraving the circle around the symbol with it taking up the center of it.

  Inside the circle, I placed arrows that show all things leading toward the center flowing inward from the points of the star, contained by a circle outside. So, basically, it was a standard pentagram with arrows shooting inward and touching the middle, where the wind symbol was trapped inside.

  I made sure that both my ring, Mage’s Well, and my mana were completely topped up before continuing.

  Once they were, which didn’t take long at all, I gathered my will and intent before sending pure mana into the item.

  The idea was for the gauntlet to take mana that it was fed and release it into the object it touched gently at a steady rate as wind aspected mana.

  As I reached the halfway point, I sprinkled a good amount of powdered opal over the it then filled it until my instincts told me to stop. Took a surprising 1,103 MP. I had eight hundred myself, and the ring gave me an added five hundred.

  But the prize was all that mattered, for now.

  North Wind’s Breath

  Mana fed through this gauntlet by the wearer converts to wind aspected mana at a ratio of three to one (3 to 1) when touching an item. This conversion is per second.

  The gentle caress of the wind in your hand, breathing life into…whatever you touch.

  Gauntlet made by master smith Siff Villy and enchanted by adept enchanter Zekiel Erebos.

  I snorted at the description, but it was what it was. I found my way back to the others without issue and just in time to get something to eat. I touched the egg in my little carrier, and activated the glove, careful
ly feeding the egg wind aspected mana.

  The drain wasn’t actually all that bad, to be honest. After every five seconds, I recovered the mana lost and could keep going at a constant rate. My hand got sweaty in the gauntlet, sure, but that was worthwhile. The constant drain on my mana was irritating, but, hey, it had to hatch at some point.

  Muu took over the driving for the second half of the day under the halfling’s instructions. Manly was off on foot to hunt for some food after we stopped just before dusk. Bokaj went with her, taking Tmont in his hood and a promise to be mindful.

  While they were gone, we spoke amongst ourselves.

  “So, how are we all feeling about her?” I kept my voice low just in case. I wasn’t sure if she could talk to animals as well, but it wouldn’t hurt to be cautious.

  “She’s pretty cool. And informative,” Muu piped up with a half-raised hand. “She’s been very kind, and she seems straightforward.”

  “She does,” James looked around us carefully before continuing. “It just seems too good to be true. She’s got a shrewd eye for business, sure, but I don’t know. She seems off like she’s hiding something.”

  “She probably didn’t tell us her full back story. And that’s okay, right?” Jaken sat back with a contemplative frown. “I mean, we haven’t been the most forthcoming, either.”

  “And she’s really knowledgeable on things a hunter might not normally know.” Yohsuke said, then grunted. We looked over toward him and he scowled. “The religion shit? Seems a bit too in-depth for my liking.”

  “Dude, some people know about all sorts of gods they don’t worship.” Muu waved his worries away while rolling his eyes. “Zeke and I used to have discussions about them in length.”

  “Hail the All-Father, Odin.” I grunted, then my smile turned to a frown. “I want to trust her. I want to let her prove that she’s cool so that we don’t have to be shitty to her. But until then? Eyes on a swivel and ears to the ground.”

  The others nodded, and we went about our business until the two rangers, because while she called herself a hunter, she was actually a ranger like Bokaj came back with a brace of three rabbits. The clearing was roughly large enough to fit all of us and still give us about twenty-five feet of open space all around before the trees began.

  Yohsuke took the carcasses to clean, skin, and dress while Manly opened the back of the cart up and then unhooked Humphrey from the front to let him free to graze and stretch.

  She walked around the back and pulled out more than a dozen large food dishes and began to fill them with foods of various sorts. Then she laid the seed on top of a large stool that she collected with several bars out and around the top of it, slightly lower.

  “Come on out now, y’all!” She hollered. “Supper time!”

  Several smaller and larger animals of all shapes and varieties exited the cart. Each of them went to a bowl and waited. Manly gave a shrill whistle before they dug into their food greedily. The sounds of snarling and chewing reminded me of some of the pets I’d had growing up. It was incredibly endearing.

  “You have all of them incredibly well trained.” I stood next to Manly as she watched over her wares.

  “Takes patience and know-how.” She smiled. A bass growl broke her concentration, and her gaze snapped to one of the dog-like creatures that had scales and a lizard-like tail. “Shiva, you raise your voice near me again, and you don’t eat tomorrow.”

  The large creature, Shiva, stopped growling at another animal and continued her meal in silence.

  “Now, y’all mind and eat up, so I can feed the others when you finish.” She took out her pipe, packed it with fresh tobacco, and lit it with a match. Which she pocketed after putting it out.

  “There are more animals?” I wondered aloud, my jaw slack.

  “Where do you put them?” Muu began to walk around the cart.

  “Lady has her secrets, but I suppose y’all magic folk would know somethin’ about dimensional enchanting?” She puffed her pipe excitedly, a mischievous glint in her eyes. “I had a strong one work on my cart here. Holds many different kinds of animals safely, and only weighs as much as a normal cart, to boot.”

  “That’s amazing!” Jaken’s awed voice took me by surprise as he touched the large wooden contraption, a look of confusion on his face. “There’s no description, though.”

  “Wouldn’t be a good idea to advertise I have money, would it?” Manly shook her head exaggeratedly. “Nope. So that be hidden well. Alright, you’re done? Get on then.”

  The animals bounded back into the cart’s rear, and Manly pressed a hand against the inside lip of the opening and touched something before stepping back and whistling shrilly once more. Several kinds of reptiles came out, none of them looking particularly well, so I reached down and cast Regrowth on each of them in turn.

  They were grateful as they munched on their leafy food that Manly placed in the bowls for each of them, along with some freshly cut fruit that reminded me of bananas.

  “Y’all mind this next one, hear?” Manly warned. “She’s real dangerous.”

  After the other animals all moved back into their mobile home, Manly had a long serpent slither from the back, her deep purple scales mesmerizing as she moved in the evening light.

  “You’re beautiful.” I admired her from a distance, but when I spoke, she turned her head toward me, curiously scenting the air with her tongue.

  “Thank you.” She wound her way toward me, her head arching up to stare me in the eyes. “It hass been sso long, ssince a friendly vissitor could undersstand me.”

  “You’ve spoken to many people?” I tilted my head to the side, and she mimicked the gesture.

  “I have, there are many like you where I come from.” She moved a little closer, giving me a clearer view of these small tendrils on top of her nose no larger than a pencil lead.

  “That’s close enough for her to get, Master Zeke,” Manly cautioned. “She’s a vorpal viper. Potent venom and strikes that are almost too fast to follow unless you have a high enough dexterity.”

  “You aren’t planning to attack me, are you?” I murmured sweetly. “That would put a terrible damper on our being able to talk.”

  “Why would I attack ssomeone sso sssweet as you?” The viper swayed slightly left and right, as if unsteady.

  “They have a habit of hunting larger prey,” Manly continued to warn.

  My friends took note of what was going on and sidled closer in case shit hit the fan.

  “It appears that your captor doesn’t trust you.” I lifted a hand to motion toward Manly, and the viper eyed me suspiciously. “I take it you gave her cause not to?”

  “I am in a land far from home, with none of my friendss, and none of my family.” She stated with more than a little bitterness in her tone. “But I alsso am hungry. Sso very hungry.”

  “Then let’s get you fed.” I smiled as she lunged. Or I thought she lunged. Everyone gasped, me included as the viper just butted her head against my shoulder.

  “Thanks, druid,” she muttered before turning toward Manly, who stood with her hand in her breast pocket and a surprised look on her face.

  Manly moved in jerky motions as she reached into the cart and pulled out a large rabbit. The viper slithered over close to it, and much the same as it had with me, the head blurred and instead of tapping the rabbit, the jaws flared, and teeth sank into the rodent’s flesh with a soft thud.

  I watched as she flexed the top of her head, likely working her venom glands as the rabbit struggled less and less. Manly released the rabbit, and the viper let it go as well.

  “Do you mind if I sit with you while you eat?” I asked the serpent, almost having forgotten the egg in my gauntleted palm.

  She turned on me. “You will not touch my food?”

  “I promise I won’t, I was just going to sit you in my lap for a little bit and enjoy your company, if that’s okay?”

  The slitted eyes blinked once. “I don’t ssee the harm.”
>
  Yes! A new form, here I come! I sat down near the food, all the while making sure that I held onto the unhatched egg carefully, and she slithered over my lap easily. Her coiling and contracting muscles felt weird, but it was alright as each loop also hit the ground before she folded over my lap.

  The others watched my shenanigans quietly, so I snapped at them, “Don’t you guys have shit to do?”

  She might suspect I’m a druid, but I cannot pass up this form. Please, someone run interference.

  “So, Manly, what other goodies you have hidden away in there?” Muu asked with genuine interest.

  “Well, after Ulla here, there’s Frederick,” Manly frowned. “He’s a rare one, and his temper ain’t somethin’ to trifle with. So, when I call him out here, please don’t approach him or make any hostile motions.”

  We nodded, and I was content to just sit there with the serpent on my lap. She wasn’t heavy, and as I fed mana to the egg, I stroked her scales with my metal hand. It was almost relaxing. Granted, she was a potentially dangerous viper. Looking at the rabbit she was gorging herself on, I changed that assessment to deadly.

  After a couple minutes I had her form, and she was most of the way finished with working the meal into her unhinged jaws. The feet being the only thing left sticking out from her heavily fanged mouth.

  Manly touched another portion of the cart and then stepped slowly away from it with a large sack in hand.

  One large, hairy fist rocketed out of the cart and clamped onto the roof, then the full figure swung out of it. A six-foot-tall gorilla with green fur, beady black eyes, and bulging muscles that made Muu look dainty, sat on the roof staring at us.

  “Uh, that’s a gorilla?” James walked closer to me, the serpent in my lap turning her attention toward him, uneasily.

  “He’s a variety of them, yes,” Manly advised. “Terran gorillas are wildly territorial. I’ve known Frederick since he was a baby. Won him in a card game a long time ago, and though people seem to like the idea of him bein’ somethin’ they could hunt or somethin’, I just can’t bring myself to sell him. He’s a friend, I think, after all this time.”