Arcane Survivalist: Apocalyptic Fantasy LitRPG

by Deck Davis

  The goblins had reached them now. They held their daggers in front of them, ready to stab the first of the group they got to.

  That turned out to be Ellie, who aimed her shotgun, pulled the trigger, and caught three goblins in the spray.

  Beele gave an ear-splitting shriek. It was so loud that it made Ash’s ears ring. There was a smash, and another of Tony’s shields burned away. He unloaded as many shots into the crow as he could while Beele was stunned. When the bird recovered, he traced another shield outline.

  “That’s the last one,” he said.

  Ash cast Ignis on the corrupted soldiers. He aimed for one in the middle of them all, catching him in the stomach with his arcane flames. The fire spread from soldier to soldier in a chain, singeing their skin, clothes and hair.

  Man, he thought, you don’t know what a bad smell really is until you’ve had a nostril-full of corrupted soldiers burning alive.

  At first, the corrupted carried on relentlessly as if the smoldering flames were nothing but an annoyance. Then, the first soldier that he’d hit fell onto his knees, and then face-planted the floor. More followed, until soon the mass of corrupted were down. Only a few stragglers had survived the chain, and Chad began taking these out.

  In the corner of his eye he saw a giant black shape surge down from the sky. Mana sizzled, and Ash turned to see Beele hovering midair, monetarily stunned.

  He grew a level 2 Ignis and unleashed it, but Beele recovered in time to pivot, and the arcane flames missed his wing.

  Across the field, Verto had almost reached the mage’s house. Come on, thought Ash. Hurry up. In her new cat-like form she was quick enough to avoid the goblins. She drew level with the four-giant rune-covered rocks outside the mage’s house.

  As she did, a blinding blue flash rose up, and a wave of energy surged into Verto.

  The blast was so powerful that it knocked her back through the air and across the plains, where she landed twenty feet away from the runes. Her cat-form was gone, replaced by her usual changeling appearance. She was on her back, completely still, smoke drifting from her chest.

  Shit, thought Ash. Isn’t the mage seeing what’s happening out here? Why isn’t he helping? Is he a coward?

  The goblins were among them now. Almost thirty screaming, sweaty, blood-thirsty creatures. One of them charged at Ellie and raised its dagger. Ash had just enough time to drag the sheriff back out of harm’s way, before taking the dagger blow on his own shoulder. Pain tore through him.

  Better me than her. At least it won’t kill me.

  To his left, Beele swooped in from a long mid-air run up and aimed for Tony. The old man saw the bird coming at him, but he wasn’t quick enough to get out of the way. Beele’s sharpened beak hit Tony’s shoulder with the force of a cannon and almost tore his right arm clean off.

  Tony fell onto his back. His right arm was completely limp. Color drained from his face.

  Beele landed softly on the plains and advanced on him. There was something impossibly eerie about seeing a giant crow scuttle on the ground. Tony reached for his gun with his left arm, but he could hardly move. Even the slightest twitch seemed to send agony through him.

  Ash cast an Ignis ball at Beele, clipping him on the wing and burning half its feathers away. Undeterred, Beele carried on toward Tony.

  He grew another ball, but he didn’t think he’d have time to use it before Beele got to Tony. Shit.

  And then six goblins sprang out toward Beele. Four had knives, two were weaponless, but all of them were fixed on the giant crow.

  They plunged their daggers into his side, and two of them bit his legs and tried to tear them off.

  At least they’re not on the same side, thought Ash.

  Sensing his disadvantage on the ground, Beele tried to take flight. He hovered just ten feet up in the air before veering to the right. Ash’s Ignis had ruined one of his wings, and Beele could do nothing except flutter madly as he crashed back onto the ground.

  To Ash’s right, Ellie and Chad stood side-to-side and shot any goblins who got close.

  “That’s six,” said Chad after hitting one of the goblins in the chest. “Race you to ten.”

  “Race you?” said Ellie. “Catch up. I’m already on fifteen.”

  The goblins near Beele wasted no time in attacking the giant crow. Beele shrieked as knives were plunged into him. One goblin climbed on top of him, grappled with his neck, and then tore a chunk out of him. The goblin spat out black feathers and went for another bite.

  As Beele struggled less and less, Ash grew a level two Ignis ball. The crow was getting weaker, and it was time to end it for good.

  Beele thrashed his wings as two goblins began to cut them off. He struggled, but it was no good.

  Ash’s Ignis ball was ready. Purple arcane flames trembled in his palm. He aimed at Beele’s head.

  And the crow suddenly changed. In the blink of an eye, it became normal sized. The goblins looked at each other, rooted to the spot in confusion. Ash knew exactly how they felt.

  Wasting no time, he launched the Ignis at the goblins, catching them in a chain. The now regular-sized crow was caught in the inferno. Flames spat and hissed, and orange embers floated in the air.

  Ash took a deep breath. Was that it? Beele was finally gone?

  He looked at Tony. He needed to heal him, but first, he had to get to Verto. She was halfway across the plains and hadn’t moved since hitting the blue force in front of the runes. As bad as it would be, tony could at least respawn. He didn’t know if Verto would be the same.

  “Ash!” said Chad. “You need to see this.”

  Sure enough, when Ash looked at the remaining dozen goblins on the plain, one was different from the rest. This one had glowing red eyes, and moved with more deliberation and poise than the others.

  “He’s mind-jumped,” said Ash. “Take him out. Aim for red eyes.”

  Chad and Ellie both aimed their weapons and fired, taking down the red-eyed goblin.

  Then, another goblin’s eyes began to glow.

  No time to get to Verto. Damn!

  There were just eleven left now. Enough for Beele to jump from goblin to goblin. Chad and Ellie fired at him, but no sooner had they killed one goblin, then Beele jumped to the next.

  This was no good. Beele was too quick; he was leaping into a new host before the old one died. They needed to buy some time. What would happen when the last goblin died? Where would Beele go?

  He’d just jump into something else. Into another bird, or a hare, or a goddamn worm. Anything to get away from them. After that, he’d watch them again and wait for another chance.

  Ash needed to end this for good. He watched Chad, Ellie, and Beele. The pattern was obvious.

  Red, glowing eyes. The crack of a rifle. The fading of the red light, only to reappear in the goblin next to him.

  The question was, what to do about it? If Beele could jump before a bullet hit, then Ignis wouldn’t work, since it was even slower.

  Another two gunshots rang out. Bullet casings fell on the ground. Beele jumped again.

  Just three goblins left now.

  He quickly cast Blood share on Tony, gathering lifeforce from the dead goblins and healing him. Tony grunted, and got to his feet.

  A gunshot rang. Another goblin died. Beele leapt into another mind.

  Two of them now.

  Ignis would be too slow. So, what could he do? He had to stop Belle jumping.

  Got it.

  He focused on the goblins. One of them had the glowing red eyes that indicated Beele’s presence. It ran toward Ellie, dagger raised, its face a picture of fury.

  Ash ignored it. Instead, he focused on the other goblin. He raised his hands and let his arcane energy gather. He cast Defile on it, letting his blood poisoning spell wash over the goblin and seep into its mouth.

  Beele reached Ellie. Just as it was about to strike, Chad raised his revolver, pulled the trigger…

  The gunshot rang in Ash’s ears.


  The goblin crumpled to the ground.

  And then the other goblin jerked. Its eyes began to glow red. Beele had jumped into it, but he hadn’t known about Ash’s spell. The blood poison wracked through the goblin, holding it and Beele, in place. It started to convulse. Its veins throbbed and stuck out against its skin as Ash’s poison ravaged it.

  “Now!” shouted Ash.

  And with that, Ellie and Chad fired on it, and Ash cast an Ignis ball at its chest. The gunshots and flames tore through its skin.

  The goblin fell to the ground.

  That was it. No more crows, no more corrupted, no goblins.

  Had it worked? There was no way to tell, at first. And then he saw it. Right beside the goblin, resting in a puddle of blood, there was a red gem.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  The Final Chapter

  Stat update? said FF.

  Stats were the last thing on his mind right now, but he knew it was useless to argue against FF, whose sole existence seemed to hinge on the delivery of level-up messages.

  First things first, you’ve levelled up to 17. With that comes an important milestone.

  “Go on…”

  One thousand and two hitpoints! Yay!

  Ash was aware that the rest of the group were keen to push on.

  “What else?”

  FF sighed. Fine, you ruin all my fun.

  Blood Concentrate LVL2 increased to 15%

  Blood Share LVL1 increased to 45%

  Blood Sense LVL1 increased to 10%

  Cell Elemental LVL1 increased to 5%

  Defile LVL1 increased to 10%

  “Thanks, FF. We good to go?”

  Thanks for listening!

  With that, Ash stood up. The once green grass of the plains was stained with a mixture of crow, corrupted and goblin blood. Spent bullet casings were nestled amongst the weeds, and the corpses of the fallen lay still.

  He walked over to the goblin that had once been Beele. A red emerald lay next to it. Ash picked it up and turned it over in his hands. It looked valuable, but other than that, he couldn’t see anything special.

  “What is it?” he asked.

  Something rare. I can’t identify it.

  “We better check on your wife,” said Chad.

  Ash grimaced. “Let’s not call her that, okay?” He looked at the group. They were panting for breath and covered in blood. “Thanks, everyone. You were brilliant. I mean it.”

  “Let’s save kissing each other’s asses for when we’re back at the ranch with a beer and a roaring fire,” said Tony.

  Together, they walked across the plains and toward the mage’s house. Ash stopped by Verto’s body and kneeled next to her. A blue scorch mark stained her green skin. He put his finger to her neck.

  “Anything?” said Tony.

  Ash shook his head. When he looked into Verto’s lifeless eyes, he felt a pang of guilt.

  “She’s gone. She’s gonna respawn, right FF?”

  Maybe, but something tells me it’s unlikely. Not everyone does, Ash. Not even in Rapto. And if she does respawn, it’s likely to be somewhere in Rapto.

  Ellie put her hand on his shoulder. “We need to hurry,” she said.

  Ash nodded. With Beele gone and the mage so close, he knew she’d be desperate to get a cure for Jake.

  He looked at the mages house. He couldn’t help but feel angry. Why hadn’t he come out to help them? There was no way he couldn’t have noticed the battle raging on his doorstep. And what was with the stones?

  Ellie started walking ahead of them.

  “Wait a second,” said Ash. “We can’t go near the runes. It must be some kind of protection. We need to get the mage to…I don’t know…deactivate them, or something.”

  “He’s right,” said Tony, looking at Ellie. “Just hold on a second, girl.”

  Look closely. Something’s changed, said FF.

  Ash stared at the four stones in front of the house. At first, he couldn’t see it, but he looked closer. FF was right.

  “The runes on the front of the stones are gone,” said Ash.

  They’re deactivated, said FF.

  “I’m taking that as an invitation,” said Ellie.

  “Alright. Just be careful. Everyone, keep your eyes open.”

  Just as FF had told them, when they walked by the stones, nothing happened. They followed the winding path up to the mage’s house. The closer they got to the door, the more Ash’s chest tightened. Something made him feel anxious, but he didn’t know what it was.

  He pushed open the mage’s door. A burning smell hit him. Looking inside, he couldn’t see anything on fire.

  That’s the smell of spent mana, said FF.

  The house consisted of one room, though different levels of it ran all the way to the top of the tower, connected by a spiral staircase. Shelves full of potion bottles lined every wall of the ground level, and in the corner, near a window, was a giant cauldron.

  “Hello?” said Ash.

  The close walls of the tower made his greeting echo, but he didn’t get a reply.

  “Maybe he’s gone for a walk,” said Chad.

  “My blood sense isn’t showing me anything. I don’t think he’s here.”

  And that was when he saw him.

  The mage was on the floor in the far corner of the room. His face was pressed against the stone floor, and his robe was spread out. He wasn’t moving.

  “This doesn’t look great,” said Tony.

  “He’s dead?” said Ellie, with a tremor in her voice. “We get all this way and the bastard’s dead?”

  Ash rubbed his face. He shared her anger. After everything they’d been through, they had gotten here to find him dead. What did this mean for Jake? What were they going to do? Without a cure, Ellie’s son was going to succumb to the red orb.

  No. It must have been a mistake. He couldn’t be dead. Maybe he was just hurt.

  Ash ran over to him. He turned him over. When he did, he gasped.

  The mage was dead; no doubt about that. The color had left his skin, and he wasn’t breathing. What shocked him more, was the mage’s eyes.

  They were a dark, deep red. They looked lifeless, but despite that, there almost seemed to be a glow to them. He’d seen those eyes before.

  “He looks just like…” said Tony.

  “Beele,” finished Ash.

  He didn’t know what to think. He knew that Beele hadn’t mind-jumped into the mage’s head, since the mage was dead, and there was nobody else around who could have killed him.

  Then, he began to hear a faint pounding. At first, he thought it was coming from somewhere in the room, but the more he listened, the louder it got. Then, as he looked at a level above him, the sound became louder.

  Blood Sense, said FF.

  He got to his feet. He quickly checked his HP in case he’d need to use Ignis. Then, he looked at Chad.

  “Picking up anything with your Impius?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Someone’s here,” said Ash. “But if Chad can’t sense them, it means they don’t have bad intentions. So, why didn’t I pick up on them when we first got here?”

  Your Blood Sense is only level one. You’ll need to level it up for it to be more consistent.

  Ash looked at the mage again. He couldn’t take his gaze away from his glowing red eyes. What did this mean? Was he another Gonodil, like Beele?

  A crashing sound came from upstairs. Tony raised his rifle and made sure it was loaded.

  “We better check it out,” he said.

  They walked up the stairs single file. Ash led the way with the purple glow of an arcane flame in his hand, ready to unleash it if he needed to. The further up the stairs they got, the more his blood sense pounded. It was like a radar blip, getting stronger and stronger with each step.

  He rounded the corner, and then he stopped. This level was barer than the ground floor, with no furniture, no potions bottles, no cauldrons.

  Instead, there wa
s just a naked man changed to the wall.

  His head was shaved, but judging by his public hair, he was a redhead. Ash could have done without knowing that particular piece of information. His pale skin was covered in cuts and scars. His wrists and ankles were strapped into manacles with just four inches of chain connecting them to metal hooks on the walls.