Mirror Princess: A LitRPG Space Fantasy (Sword of Asteria Book 2)

by Eddie R. Hicks

  With the star-human Paladin dead, the Mage snickered as her platinum hair waved from the astral winds. The Mage locked their eyes onto the star-fae, Medic. Rachael, her name was? Tempeste could not remember, as she was not formally introduced to the woman.

  “Rachael!” Tempeste cried out, reaching her hand to her.

  Not that it did any good.

  Rachael blew up in a blaze of flames and fell to her knees—

  Whack.

  The Berserker cleaved Rachael, spraying fae gore across the trees. The blow sent Rachael airborne. Tempeste watched in horror as Rachael’s burning body spiraled and hit a tree.

  Rachael | HP: 0/344

  She died instantly.

  The smoldering corpse of the star-fae lay at the foot of a tree.

  “Why am I always the last one alive?” Tempeste rolled her eyes as she returned to her bout with the fleeing Ranger. He was raising his bow as astral energy caused an arrow to materialize. The Ranger fired the arrow. Tempeste swatted it away, then increased the speed at which she ran at—

  Multiple arrows came at her.

  She dove to the side, let the arrows soar past, and kept up her charge to the Ranger, swiping at them when she got close. Tempeste struck the Ranger three times in the chest, shocking him from the lightning magic imbuing her blade. With each hit, Tempeste did additional magical damage. Now and then, she would paralyze the Ranger with the shock effect, further slowing him down.

  “Stop running, you idiot!” shouted the Medic.

  Tempeste grinned. Her plan worked. She put so much pressure on the Ranger that he ran from the healing range of the Medic and their Recovery Orbs. With the Ranger suffering from the stunning shock, Tempeste stabbed and slashed him repeatedly, building the AP necessary for her next assault.

  Thundering Blow (Rank C)

  Your next attack will do damage to anything in front of you.

  Potency: 45

  Cost: 100 AP

  She used the skill, and it forced her hands and arms to make a giant slice of the opened space, leaving white flickers of electricity in her blade’s wake. Tempeste barely felt the Spellsword Saber pass through the Ranger’s upper chest, slicing through his ribcage and into the tree he had backed into. She cut him and the tree in half. Both fell to the ground in unison.

  The Berserker and Medic stood with a frightened look on their faces. Tempeste, with her free hand, yanked a Greater MP Potion from her inventory, pulled off the cork with her teeth, then downed the blue liquid in the bottle. She tossed the empty glass over her shoulder and charged at the two, screaming a furious war cry.

  Tempeste went for the Medic first. The healer of a party always had to die first if you could not separate them from their group. She slashed the Medic, the lightning from her Spellsword Saber stunned him with paralyzing electrocution. Tempeste turned to the Berserker, cast Spark, and the blast of lightning sparks made his body convulse uncontrollably. Naturally, the Medic recovered from the paralysis, leaped back, and attempted to cast Medical Wave. It was an area of effect heal that restored HP and removed one debuff upon allies. It was a shame Rachael did not know that spell. She and Guy would probably be alive now.

  Tempeste stabbed the Medic’s chest, interrupting his spell casting. Her lightning enchantment did not inflict the shock effect that time, but that was okay. The Berserker was still stunned and unable to move, not for another three or four seconds. It was more than enough time to gain 50 AP. Tempeste’s repeated lunges at the Medic looked like a miniature lightning storm thundering ahead of her. Sparks and zigzagging lightning bolts exploded everywhere.

  Behind, the Berserker recovered, clenched an axe in each hand, and swung them at Tempeste. She pivoted, used Slashing Rage, and blocked every attack the Berserker delivered. Slashing Rage removed a chunk of his HP for being too close as the lightning on her Spellsword Saber stunned him with a shock. She met the Medic, slashed and got lucky with another shock debuff, then sliced open his left arm with a critical hit, exposing the bone and red meaty muscle tissue inside. His staff hit the ground. With the Medic’s HP at 21 percent, she cut into his belly so deep his intestines fell out along with enough blood to make the dirt path feel squishy as if it were mud after a hard rain. He put his hands to his gut as his intestines dangled. It looked like he was trying to force his slipping organs back in. He died seconds later.

  The Berserker recovered again. With his teeth gritting with anger, he swung his axes. She leaped backward, the axe’s blade missing her somersaulting body by an inch. Tempeste landed perfectly on her feet as the Berserker charged forward to get in melee range. She estimated he could hit her in four seconds. She needed just three to cast Lightning.

  So she did.

  The Berserker ran into her Lightning spell. It did not inflict as much damage compared to a Mage using the same spell, but it was stronger than simply slashing her blade. Once again, the Berserker trembled from the electrocution debuff of shock, this time with his HP down to 24 percent and no healer to top it up. Tempeste thrust the Spellsword Saber’s tip for his head, piercing his left eye. The Spellsword Saber broke through his skull and popped out the back, the blade’s edge covered in brain matter and red. She withdrew the Spellsword Saber from his eye socket, and the Berserker fell with no HP left to keep them alive.

  Was it over? Tempeste scanned the battlefield, but only saw the unmoving dead. The druid Mage with bunny ears had fled. No point in chasing, she thought as she sheathed the Spellsword Saber to her waist. There is likely another ambush waiting in the forest.

  Tempeste returned to the village of René’s Cove. She found a Cleric and Medic and waved for them to come with her.

  “You two, I require your assistance immediately!” She brought the healers to Guy and Rachael’s bodies and pointed. “Bring these two back right away.”

  “Star-dwellers . . .” The Cleric said as he knelt, examining Rachael’s body. “My lady, my duty is to the people of the village first.”

  Tempeste just glared at the Cleric, her arms crossed over her revealing armor and the sigils near her breasts. “Do you know who I am?”

  He glanced at her features closer, then shot his eyebrows up wide. “Oh, Lady L’Aignelet! My apologies.”

  “Of course,” said the village Medic. “We will do as you ask.”

  The village Cleric sighed. “Yes, we will.”

  The two healers stood side by side, one channeling energy to cast Resurrection on Guy, the other casting Revive on Rachael. Two beams of starlight touched the dead star-dwellers, mending their fatal injuries and forcing the spilled blood back into their bodies. The black char burns on Rachael’s flesh faded away, restoring it to her porcelain look. Guy’s headless body came back together. The gash that had severed his neck sealed shut, making it look like he had never lost his head to start with.

  Guy and Rachael sat up. Guy moaned from the pain, and Rachael exploded with an emotional outburst with tears streaming from her eyes. He embraced Rachael in his arms, and rocked her soothingly.

  “It’s okay, Rachael,” he said, amidst her wails. “It’s okay. We’re alive.”

  “What the fuck . . .” Rachael cried. “Guy . . . did.”

  “Yeah, we died. But we’re good now.”

  “I . . . I . . . thought.” Rachael collected herself. “Sorry, just thought that was the end of you. The end of us.”

  “Death isn’t anything to fear anymore,” Guy said. “Unless you run out of LP . . . Then you turn into a crystal.”

  “This is my fault,” Rachael said as Guy released her. She wiped the tears from her puffy and flushed face. “My level wasn’t high enough to keep us standing. I got you killed.”

  “No,” he said. “It’s not your fault, Rachael.”

  As much as Tempeste wanted to give them time to recover from the horrific experience of death, they had to be on the move. There were more people killers on the prowl within the forest.

  Tempeste offered a hand to each of them. “Come with me, quick
.”

  She helped them to their feet. Afterward, Rachael pulled out an MP hypospray and pressed it to her shoulder. It restored 20 percent of her MP, which she used to cast Regeneration on herself, then Guy. Slowly, the heal over time spell restored their HP, tick by tick. The Medic and Cleric from René’s Cove left to resurrect the fallen guards and civilians who had stained the land red with their blood.

  Rachael watched and winced. “I guess that’s why they call them the people killers.”

  “PKers,” Guy cut in. “And they just PKed us.”

  “As I mentioned earlier,” Tempeste said. “They kill for sport.”

  Guy retrieved Asteria’s Sword and strapped it to the back of his black, long coat. “Why?”

  “You can get experience points from killing people,” Tempeste explained. “They find it easier to level up by killing the weak than completing quests, fighting monsters, or clearing dungeons. Also, party leaders yield ten times more experience points than normal.”

  “Well, that explains that mystery,” Guy said. “Back on Faeheim, I noticed some imperials gave a lot of experience when killed.”

  “They were most likely party leaders,” Tempeste said.

  Guy watched the elven couple slain earlier crawl up with life in their body once again. “But these PKing assholes . . .” Guy grunted. “They’re killing the innocent for entertainment and progression . . .” He groaned.

  “Except,” Tempeste said, as she pointed at the healers from René’s Cove. They stopped to bring life back to the dead guards. “The code of the PKers, as you call them, is to never permanently slay anyone by turning their body into soul crystals unless we do it to one of their members. And so, we have orders to ensure that no PKer suffers permanent death, as it would just escalate things.”

  Guy lifted an eyebrow. “You can’t be serious . . .”

  “The best we can do is deploy units to fight them off until they leave this village alone,” Tempeste said. “Until then, we are trapped here until the PKers return to their dens.”

  Tempeste made a subtle grunt. She looked at the Verte Woods, the forest surrounding René’s Cove, the forest’s path being the only way back to her airship, the Sirocco. The Verte Woods were crawling with the people killers lying in wait behind bushes or hiding in the treetops. She wondered if Captain Bordeaux and the others were faring well. Did the people killers discover the airship and her crew? Did they fall victim?

  “If their code is to not permakill anyone,” Rachael said. “Why won’t their healers resurrect the people they kill?”

  “Yeah,” Guy said with a nod. “If you stay dead long enough, you’ll lose all your LP and end up a crystal. I’m at 8 LP now because I was killed back in another world. My attacker took their time dragging my body to a Cleric for Resurrection.”

  “PKer healers need to conserve their MP to heal their own kind,” Tempeste explained to the two. “Resurrection and Revive cost 500 MP, more at higher levels. And so, the PKers argue it is our responsibility to bring the dead back before they lose LP. If we cannot do so, they will simply claim that it was our fault for not bringing them back fast enough.”

  Guy shut his eyes, frowned, and made a long and dejected snarl. “All the while, you guys refuse to teach them a lesson.”

  Tempeste snorted. “What choice do we have?”

  “Well, it looks like the PKers can feign ignorance if someone accidentally gets permakilled,” Guy said. “Meanwhile, you won’t do it to them, fearing they’ll do it on purpose. You’re bowing to the demands of bullies. Fuck that.”

  Rachael added. “Guy and I know a thing or two about bullies from when we were younger.”

  “Yep,” he said with a nod. “You always had my back when we were kids.”

  Rachael nodded back to him. “And you had mine when the mean girls came after me in high school.”

  Tempeste did not know what a high school was, but sensed Guy and Rachael were an effective duo. Asking for the star-dwellers’ help was the right call, regardless of their level. These two would save her kingdom and defeat the dark elves of New Svartálfar and their new fae allies. She was sure of it.

  Tempeste just needed the people killers to leave them alone so that she could escort them to her airship laying farther out.

  The village healers resurrected the last of the dead. They returned to René’s Cove to live with the horrific memories of dying a violent death, the agonizing pain it brought while knowing they may experience it again with no guarantee a Cleric or Medic would be available to resurrect them. And the people killers would blame René’s Cove for being disorganized.

  Disappointment twisted Guy’s face. He wanted to do something about it and studied the paths the remaining PKers retreated on and the trees they might be hiding behind.

  He yanked Asteria’s Sword free from its rest on his back. “I want a rematch.”

  Guy stepped toward the thick growth of trees within the Verte Woods.

  Tempeste grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back. Guy’s frame was more solid than she thought. He was a man with firm muscles under the long black coat. Even after tugging him back, Tempeste never released her grip from his shoulder. It felt nice. He cocked his head to glare at her, and the two made eye contact. Tempeste’s cheeks reddened when she realized she no longer needed to hold him, yet was still doing it.

  She let go and spoke. “It is best we wait this out.”

  “You want us to sit here and do nothing?” Guy said to her.

  “If you act rashly, you may destroy the balance and provoke more PKer attacks. It is bad enough that we must fight the dark elves and now the fae as well. Should they attack during the middle of a people killer retaliation strike . . .”

  Tempeste narrowed her eyes at Guy, taking a close inspection of his equipment. She did the same for Rachael. “And your equipment is inadequate.”

  Rachael shrugged. “It’s the best we have right now.”

  “Follow me,” Tempeste said.

  She brought Guy and Rachael to the dead Medic and Berserker the two had tried and failed to defeat. Tempeste pointed at their gore-soaked remains. “Take their armor, weapons, and accessories. Once resurrected, these two will have no means to fight or defend themselves.”

  “Unless they have spare equipment in their inventory and grab it,” Guy said.

  “I plan to have them arrested before they get the chance to do that,” Tempeste said.

  Guy and Rachael searched the dead men below, pulling off their equipment to gaze intently at the floating information screens. Guy gave the plate armor in his grips an impressed grin. “Well, this breastplate is an upgrade for me . . . Once I have the stats needed to equip it.”

  Rachael did the same for the chain gown. “Yeah, same with this chain armor.” She held up the battlestaff. “I can use this right now, though. Marauder’s Staff, Rank B.”

  “I wonder what that Ranger has,” Guy said as he glanced at the Ranger lying beside a halved tree.

  Guy and Rachael gave the Ranger’s body a quick search and removed the Ranger’s leather armor, bow, and accessories. Both had to help each other pick up the gear, as they lacked the stats needed to hold it correctly. It would explain why they tossed the Ranger’s gear into their Inventory screens without looking at the stats.

  The two star-dwellers needed to gain more levels before they would be of any use to Lumière.

  Chapter Nine

  A man shrieked out in pain.

  Suddenly, Guy wasn’t on Alfheimr anymore.

  He was back on Mennaze, watching helplessly as Wylume sank his sword into Dianna’s body, over and over, mutilating it until it turned into a soul crystal. Guy couldn’t save Dianna back then, like how he couldn’t save Rachael earlier.

  He shook off the flashback and ignored the bitterness of guilt that flooded his mind.

  Guy was back in the present, back on Alfheimr standing with Tempeste and Rachael in René’s Cove’s main square. The three spotted a group of PKers in the vil
lage, two Gunners and a Ranger. The man who screamed brought his hand, covered in gore, to his face. One of the Gunners who had shot him just laughed, aimed his dual flintlock pistols, and pulled their triggers. The force of the bullets hurled him backward in a mist of blood.

  The newly resurrected guards drew their swords and chased the Gunner duo and Ranger around René’s Cove. But with the PKers’ levels and access to high-ranking equipment, the guards did very little. The Ranger filled one guard with arrows, the second Gunner riddled the other with bloody holes. The remaining Gunner stormed into a tavern full of patrons. Seconds later, the windows of the establishment brightened with white flashes as muffled screams echoed. One person ran from the tavern, a woman in a blood-soaked dress.

  She ran right into the Ranger, and he mercilessly fired three arrows into her gut, bringing her HP to zero.

  The PKing trio scurried away after that, laughing.

  And there wasn’t a fucking thing Guy could do from his distance.

  Guy balled up his fists. “This is almost as bad as the empire in Muruai. Only these PKers don’t permakill people and allow healers to resurrect them. Just to kill them again and laugh.” Turning to Tempeste, Guy added. “I’m not going to let these motherfuckers get away with this. Sorry.”

  “I’m with Guy on this one,” Rachael said. “This is bullshit. We didn’t come here to watch innocent people live in fear because of assholes.”

  Guy and Rachael retrieved their weapons and ran ahead, looking for the PKers. Targets who had fled by the time the trio arrived near the massacre. Tempeste caught up with Guy and Rachael to find them watching a Cleric casting the Resurrection spell upon the dead woman, then turn to bring back the man who had gotten shot. The Cleric was going to need a lot of MP potions to resurrect the dead in the tavern.

  Guy sheathed Asteria’s Sword to his back as a gust of wind blew the ends of his trench coat.

  “What do you plan to do, star-dweller?” Tempeste asked Guy. “Please do not disturb the balance here.”