Mageblood

by Christopher Johns

  “Two reasons.” He held up two fingers that grew progressively longer and bonier. “One, no one will believe you. Two, even if you do tell someone, and they believe you, it only creates more strife for me to dine on.”

  He laughed then, long, and deep, grasping his stomach as his body grew steadily odder and more overgrown. His nose stayed the same, as did his clothes, but his body grew round and bulbous. It stretched taller, and his fingers grew long and thin with claws on the end.

  “A monster, I may be, but there isn’t chaos without something fun.” He crashed his way toward me, and I found myself unable to move from where I stood. “I will enable this for you—a gift to show how much I truly do like you for figuring things out and your brazen attitude. Whenever you consume the blood of your foes, your affinities with a magic type will grow.”

  “And what does that do?”

  His fanged jowls opened wide, crashing in front of my face in a manic sneer. “It will give you power. Once it hits one hundred percent, you may be able to gain control over that type of magic. Or not. Maybe it will strengthen something else? Chaos is so much fun!”

  He clapped his hands together, and his grin lessened. “Our time together is up. Good luck, Kyvir Mageblood. And remember to struggle!”

  His voice faded and echoed as his figure blurred while he waved to me, my body falling through the jet-black darkness.

  Chapter Sixteen

  I came to standing by Trickle’s fountain with a sigh of relief.

  You have died for the first time since ascending to level 10. As you had no experience earned previously to take, a lesson has been deemed necessary. Any death after this level will result in the forfeiture of any and all experience gained toward the next level, and all experience must be earned back before you can start accruing it again, essentially doubling the experience lost toward your next level.

  —Kyvir?!— Thea’s concerned whisper welcomed me back to the world of the living.

  I sat there for a moment longer, just absorbing what I had found out. This was something I hadn’t seen in any game I had played before. Mephisto was really one sinister asshole.

  I took a deep breath and considered telling the others, but the gravity would be lost in a whisper, and I kept it to myself for now.

  —I’m on my way back, Thea. No worries— with that sent to her, I jogged back to her place. True dark surrounded me, but it wasn’t difficult to navigate with all of the lanterns, indoor lights, and torches on the street corners.

  It took a bit, but I got there, sweaty and gross. Thea waited in front with Minh Lei at her side, the former looking worried, the latter just had her arms crossed before her.

  “Oh, Kyvir!” Thea gasped and sprinted to me, wrapping her arms around my shoulders. “I don’t know what happened. Please don’t be upset with Minh.”

  “I’m not upset, that fight was great.” I frowned at the woman holding me, then glanced back at Minh Lei, hoping I didn’t look as pissed as I genuinely felt.

  Her bearing was incredible, she showed no emotion as she paced toward us both. Once she was within five feet, she stopped and bowed her head.

  “I did not mean to kill you, wanderer Kyvir.” Her deep voice sounded as emotionless as her face, but her hands moving behind her back that set me on alert. “These are yours.”

  She brought out the two halves of my glaive that had fallen from my grasp in the act of losing my head. Bowing at the neck as she offered them to me, I muttered a soft, “Thank you.”

  I grasped them from her hands, and she stepped back before raising her head. “For someone unversed with the blade, glaive, and general fighting, you did well. You are not scum.”

  I raised an eyebrow, lowering my voice to give an uncertain, “Thank you?”

  “You may survive the trip to Belgonna’s Hold.” Minh Lei snuffed, her demeanor changing slightly to a more imperious one. “I will teach your friend how to use the weapons she has, and you the glaive, if you like. Before you leave or after you return.”

  She looked at Thea, who stood silently in shock. “I do not like to advertise my proficiencies with all of my weapons.”

  “Thank you.” I stared at her with a bit more actual gratitude. “That was a great fight. Thank you for teaching me.”

  Minh Lei bowed at her waist, a look of curiosity taking her features, her thin lips quirking up slightly as she swayed away from us.

  “Come inside, and we can get you cleaned up.” Thea tugged at my shoulder, and I followed her inside. “When do you plan on leaving?”

  I considered everything that would be going on, then sighed and decided. “Tomorrow.”

  I turned my gaze up to the moon in the night sky, glowing silver with the stars surrounding it, almost as if that monstrous Mephistopheles was watching down from on high.

  “We leave for Belgonna’s Hold tomorrow.”

  Afterword

  We hope you enjoyed Mageblood! Since reviews are the lifeblood of indie publishing, we’d love it if you could leave a positive review on Amazon! If you scroll through to the end of this book, you’ll easily be able to leave a review at the end. Otherwise, follow this link to be redirected to the Mephisto's Magic Online: Mageblood Amazon product page to leave your review.

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  About Christopher Johns

  Christopher Johns is a former photojournalist for the United States Marine Corps with published works telling hundreds of other peoples’ stories through word, photo, and even video.

  But throughout that time, his editors and superiors had always said that his love of reading fantasy and about worlds of fantastic beauty and horrible power bled into his work. That meant he should write a book.

  Well, ta-da!

  Chris has been an avid devourer of fantasy and science fiction for more than twenty years and looks forward to sharing that love with his son, his loving fiancée and almost anyone he could ever hope to meet.

  Connect with Chris:

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  About Mountaindale Press

  Dakota and Danielle Krout, a husband and wife team, strive to create as well as publish excellent fantasy and science fiction novels. Self-publishing The Divine Dungeon: Dungeon Born in 2016 transformed their careers from Dakota’s military and programming background and Danielle’s Ph.D. in pharmacology to President and CEO, respectively, of a small press. Their goal is to share their success with other authors and provide captivating fiction to readers with the purpose of solidifying Mountaindale Press as the place ‘Where Fantasy Transforms Reality’.

  Connect with Mountaindale Press:

  Website

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  Newsletter

  Street Team

  Mountaindale Press Titles

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  The Divine Dungeon by Dakota Krout

  The Completionist Chronicles by Dakota Krout

  A Touch of Power by Jay Boyce

  Red Mage by Xander Boyce

  Ether Collapse by Ryan DeBruyn

  Bloodgames: Season One by Christian J. Gilliland

  Wolfman Warlock: Bibliomancer by James Hunter and Dakota Krout

  Axe Druid by Christopher Johns

  Skeleton in Space by Andries Louws

  Chronicles of Ethan by John L. Monk

  Pixel Dust by David Petrie

  Artorian’s Archives by Dennis Vanderkerken and Dakota Krout

  Appendix

  Seth Ethelbart/Kyvir Mageblood (Sehth Eh-thuhl-bart / Kye-Vear) – Streamer known for playing caster classes exclusively, usually a more intellectual player but his knack for wanting to role play gets him into trouble at times.

  Mona Hart/Monami Sunfur (Moe-Nahmee) – Streamer and Seth’s best friend since before birth, generally
hot headed and highly intelligent.

  Al/Alex Remell/Albarth Remell (Al-barth Rem-uhl) – A fellow streamer in Sondra’s guild who joins the group in playing the new game. Olympic fencing gold medalist with a sordid past.

  Sondra Remi/Sundar Strongtusk (Sun-dahr) – Leader of the gaming guild the group played with in Blood and Gore, served in the United States Army before beginning her gaming career.

  Mephisto (Mephistopheles) – A being after which the game is named who takes a special interest in the main character and his friends. Why? Who knows. All that is known at this time is that he’s got a terrible sense of style and a love of theatrics.

  Codilgoren/Codgy (Cah-dill-gore-in/Cahd-gee, like Codger only with a hard E sound) – An ogre with a heart of gold and a desire to create nice clothes for folks. Also colorblind. Poor guy.

  Alvor (Ahl-vore) – Apprentice smith and son of a miner, his hope is to make fine weapons and armor some day.

  Ori Loriander (Or-ee Lor-ee-and-er) – Master smith responsible for training Alvor and Monami in Iradellum. Loves smithing more than he does most things, looks like a hard man but is really a giant softy.

  Gage Toomgarak (Gay-ge Tomb-gair-ik) – Current sergeant-at-arms for the city guard, a large Minotaur with a soft spot for a certain orcish gamer. Loves his people and supports skilled people working around him.

  Thea Oberon – An elven Corporal under Gage’s command who has a penchant for mischief and fun, but is a damned fine fighter and teacher. Has a romantic encounter with a party member.

  Ünbin and Cälaos (Ew-ben and Say-louse) – Twin Kin warriors under Gage’s command who help teach the party how to fight. Cälaos is talkative and a bit over the top, while his brother Ünbin despises talking and would rather kill whatever irritates him.

  Ophira (Oh-fear-uh) – A dye maker who is called a witch. Likes bright colors and is quite colorful herself. Owns her own punny dye shop.

  D – A mysterious figure who Mona thinks could be her missing father. Not much is known about him at this time.

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