PrimeVerse: Dose of Chaos: A GameLit / LitRPG Adventure

by R K Billiau

  Legendary Quest – Assist Three Others to Become Vassals of Archons. Reward – A new skill from that archon’s portfolio.

  Ultimate Quest – Push Back Chaos. Find a way to defeat or give the Archon of Chaos a major setback. Reward – The enmity of the Archon of Chaos, Unknown.

  New quests. Big quests. I was starting to feel like this whole game of the archons was the deeper level to this world. I would have to take it seriously. It may not be affecting us now, but it certainly would in the future. I looked up to ask the Adjudicator something, but the light pulled me back. I didn’t even get to finish my milkshake.

  Chapter 44

  I respawned next to the fountain in the center of the village. I didn’t know what Cora’s plans were, but I was sure destruction was a part of them. She wouldn’t want to leave anything for anyone to come back to, so I wanted to collect as many important things as I could. Namely, the blueprints the architect had made.

  This village was no longer safe, it was just too close to the chaos node. Oh, and all its inhabitants were gromlins. I wasn’t happy about it, but I knew where we had to go so those kids could be safe and surrounded by people who would help take care of them.

  We had to go back to the Ascendants. What a stupid name. I shook my head in disdain, I should have realized by that alone how bad they would end up being. But they were a whole lot better than gromlins. I grit my teeth at the thought of it, but I knew that’s what we were going to do. Kids deserved a safe and caring environment. Even if it was with a bunch of buffoons.

  I took a moment to just enjoy the fountain’s simple beauty and the cool buff that was provided. I sincerely hoped there was a way to get the villagers back to their normal selves, or at least free from Cora’s control. They were good people, and I hated the thought of them suffering this way. And what their poor kids must be going through.

  The village was eerily empty. It was never bustling, for lack of people to bustle, but this was definitely quieter than I’d ever seen it before.

  “Ryan!” I shouted, hoping the scout could hear me. I couldn’t see his dot anywhere on my mini-map, so I called for him again before I headed to the mayors office.

  I opened the door to a person shouting. “Help! Hey hel- aw crap, it’s you,” the voice said. I looked towards the sound of the voice and saw something that made me smile. Carl, locked up in the jail cell at the back of the mayors office.

  “Well now, what do we have here?” I asked. “What did you do to get yourself locked up in there? I didn’t even try to conceal the massive grin that had spread over my face.

  Carl sat down heavily on the wooden cot attached to the wall, his shoulders slumping. “This sucks,” he said.

  “Maybe for you, but it doesn’t for me,” I said, wrapping my hands around the bars that held him in. “But that wasn’t much of an answer. What happened, Carl old pal? How did such an upstanding citizen like yourself end up locked in a cage?” I asked again.

  He leaned back against the wall, looking up to the ceiling. “Why should I tell you anything?”

  I shrugged. “I mean, you don’t have to. But something tells me you need me a lot more than I need you.” I banged on the bars and they gave a satisfyingly loud rattle that reverberated off the walls. “How long have you been in here?”

  He gave that some thought before finally answering. “Most of a day. It was this morning when that guy put me in here. Would you really free me? You know I didn’t mean anything personal by ditching you in that dungeon, right?” He smiled at me with that ugly face of his.

  I moved my face muscles in the shape of a smile at him. “Yeah, I can understand that I guess, but it still sucked man.”

  “Yeah, I know, I’m sorry. I didn’t have a choice though, you know?” he said.

  “No, I don’t know. Why don’t you tell me what you mean,” I said.

  “You’re going to let me out, right? We’re cool now?” he asked.

  I turned around and walked a few steps away and sat in Graham’s chair, turning it to face him. “Look, I really don’t want to. The villagers will be back soon, and I would just as soon hand you over to them. But tell me what you’re talking about and I’ll think about it.”

  He stood up, moving to the bars of the cell and grabbing them. “Is that Ryan guy going to be with them?”

  “Probably,” I said. “Why?”

  He put his forehead against the bars. “He’s the guy that put me in here. I saw the village was empty, so I came in to get some food and stuff. I have to survive, too, you know. It’s a rough world out there.”

  So he was robbing the place and Ryan caught him. That seemed like something Carl would do. “Yeah man, I understand,” I said, and pulled out some jerky from my inventory. “Did you ever find anything to eat?” His eyes fixated on the small ration I had brought out; I swear I could see drool. I took a bite, chewed slowly and swallowed.

  “No, I didn’t,” he said.

  “Okay, tell you what, let's start with this: you tell me what you were really doing in this village, and I’ll let you have a bite of this.” I held up a piece of the salted meat.

  “Hey, I was really looking for-” I took another bite of the meat. He stopped talking immediately, staring at it. I opened my mouth again. “Okay! Fine. I was here looking for stuff to steal, I was told to come here!” I tossed the meat into my mouth, chewing it, and pulled another one out.

  “Hey! You said you would give that to me!”

  “Keep talking,” I said. “Who told you to come here and what were you looking for?”

  “You’re as bad as that other guy, you gonna steal from me too?” he asked.

  “Just shut up and start talking.” Interrogation was not my forte. I didn’t have patience for this kind of thing.

  “Fine, I was sent here by Cora. You know her, at least she said you did. Anyway, she sent me to look for anything important to take back to her.”

  “Did you find anything?” I asked. “Take anything good?”

  “Yeah, I found a few things, but then Ryan showed up and shot me in the leg.” He pointed down to his leg that was wrapped in dirty white cloth. Both of his legs were covered in dirt and blood. Yuck. “Then he dragged me in here. I tried to make a deal with him to let me go. Told him I wouldn’t ever come back, but the asshole just took what I offered and left me here to rot.”

  “Let me guess, you offered him one of the gems you stole from us?”

  His face screwed up. “How’d you know that?”

  “I’m asking the questions here, buddy. Locked up,” I pointed to him, “not locked up,” I pointed to myself. “Make sense? It doesn’t matter, anyway. Why didn’t you give all the gems to Cora, isn’t that who you stole them for?”

  “Yeah, but man, I wasn’t going to give her everything. I wanted something for myself, especially after you guys stole my dagger.” I rolled my eyes so hard I’m surprised they didn’t get stuck. I was grateful his selfishness ended up getting one of the spell gems into good guy hands, at least. “Now gimmie that food man! I’m starving!”

  “I doubt you know what starving means,” I said. “Do you even have the debuff yet?”

  “No, but it doesn’t matter. I haven’t eaten all day and I’m dying here.”

  “You’ll live,” I said, and he scowled. “I have to ask, Carl. How did you get mixed up with a woman like Cora? How do you know her?”

  He paused, his eyes going hazy momentarily and a stupid smile appearing on his face. “Boy do I know her.”

  “Gross, just tell me how you met,” I said.

  “We met in the forest, after they sent away me from the village with that quest. We hit it off right away. She gets me like nobody on Earth did.” Carl’s face went dreamy again as he thought of her. I wondered if her manipulation skill was getting stronger or what, I had never seen anyone zone out about her like that. This dude was in love.

  “We’re soulmates Hudson. It’s... amazing. Nothing like I’ve ever felt before.”

&n
bsp; I sighed. “You know you’re her third or fourth ‘soulmate’, just in the game, right? It never ends well. But, whatever, I don’t really care. I just want to know what her plans were. How did you become her spy and what did she want with this village?”

  “Oh that’s easy, she saw you in the forest. She told me to meet up with you and help, then take whatever it was you got from the quest. You should have seen her face when I gave her those gems!” he said.

  “Most of the gems,” I corrected.

  “Yeah, yeah, whatever.” Carl rubbed the back of his neck. “So, can I have some food now or what?”

  “Tell me this first, what did she want with the village?” I asked.

  “I don’t know, she wouldn’t tell me.” His eyes were glazed over, as if he was trying to remember something but couldn’t.

  “Why didn’t she come to the village herself?”

  “I don’t know! Why do you keep asking me all these questions!? Gimmie the food! Let me out!”

  I stood up, feeling like I had gotten all I could out of him. “No,” I said and turned around and walked to the door.

  “What!? What do you mean ‘no’!?” He screamed, his arms flailing through the bars at me. “Get back here! You will regret walking away and leaving me in here! Mark my words you...”

  I kept walking and shut the door on the obscenities he hurled at me. I didn’t know what would happen when Cora got here with her horde, but I didn’t have time to deal with him. I took a breath and checked my notifications. I had increased my Projection while talking to that scumbag, so that was nice at least.

  “Ryan!” I shouted again, looking down the small street. The village was still, not even a breeze, and I shouted again. This time I got a response as Ryan’s head popped out of the building with the foaming mug on the sign.

  “Oh! You’re here!” he shouted, and I walked down to him.

  “Weird time to be getting a drink, man,” I said.

  He smirked at me. “Funny guy. This is my place, I was just getting a few things. I’m guessing by the way that horde is coming this direction, that my little village isn’t going to be around much longer.”

  “That’s probably a safe bet,” I said. “I’m sorry about that. I know you guys have worked hard on this place.”

  Ryan shrugged. “Meh, it is what it is. My bar was kind of just languishing anyway,” he sighed. “That’s the second bar I’ve lost. I’m beginning to think I was never really cut out for that, anyway.” He shook his head like he was ridding himself of a bad memory. “Did you come from the mayors office?”

  “Yep, I met your little friend. Well, our little friend. That guy is a real piece of work,” I said.

  “That he is. You would not believe the things he screamed at me when I was hauling him around.”

  I jerked my thumb back toward the building. “He said you tricked him? What did he mean?”

  Ryan chuckled. “He had this magic gem he was trying to bribe me with, told me he would let me have it if I let him go. So I did. He gave me the gem, then as he was walking out, I shot him. Boy, did that piss him off. He called me all kinds of things I had heard before, and a few I hadn’t in my 83 years on Earth.”

  “Ahhh okay, so that’s why he wouldn’t play ball with me. Plus, I think he might be losing it. Cora worked his mind over good,” I said. “Every time he talked about her his eyes hazed over and his tongue all but fell out of his mouth. I think he needed a room just thinking about her.”

  Ryan blushed. “Yeah, Cora is... something else,” he said, then cleared his throat trying to change the subject. “I went to the other houses and got as many keepsakes as I could. I figure the rest of them might like them when we get them turned back human.”

  That was actually a great thought. Even though I had no idea if we would be able to turn them back. “Oh, that was nice. I didn’t even think of that.”

  “Yeah, I’ve known these people for a long time now. They’re my friends, family really, and I know they would hate to lose everything, even though, well, they are going to lose almost everything. I grabbed some other odds and ends also, things they use for their classes, but if you have any room in your inventory, maybe you could get some stuff too. I couldn’t carry the smithing tools or farming tools, but if you can it would be better to take it than to leave it here for the gromlins.”

  “That’s a great point, and it brings me to something I wanted to talk with you about.” We started walking into the shops to collect anything useful. Ryan had picked up personal effects for the other villagers, but I wanted to collect useful items.

  “What’s up?” Ryan asked.

  “You know this area pretty well, right?” I asked as we went through the architect’s office. We hit the jackpot there, finding a ton of already made blueprints. I put them all into my inventory without even looking at them.

  “I did know it, and I am sure I still do in some regard. The geography hasn’t changed, but the flora and fauna sure have,” Ryan said.

  “Sure, I can understand that. What I’m getting at, is that I want you to meet up with the group. Go meet them, turn them away from coming back here and help them through the forest, back to the tribe we came from,” I said, letting my idea out of my mind for the first time. I was very hesitant about this but felt like we needed more people to be safe, and the kids needed to be around people and have shelter, too.

  “Tribe? You came from a tribe of people?” Ryan asked, taken aback. “I don’t know why that should surprise me really, I guess it would be weird if they started everyone by themselves. How did you end up here?”

  I talked with Ryan as we worked, going from house to house, and building to building to get anything we felt a starting colony could use. I told him the whole story about us and the Ascendants, the zombies, and Tim. All the info about the archons. And Cora, my least favorite subject. He took all that with aplomb, shrugging. “I mean, It’s a game world, that kind of stuff is supposed to happen.”

  We collected seeds, tools, eggs, the specialty equipment from the alchemist’s shop and the oracle’s crystal ball. The only things we left behind were the things too big or too heavy to take, like the plow or the anvil. We finally finished and I knew it was time.

  “All right Ryan, I think it's time for you to go,” I said.

  “I still don’t understand why you aren’t going too. I know you said you can just death-teleport wherever, but why cost yourself XP, why stay and fight at all?” Ryan said. “It’s hopeless, man. You know that.”

  “There are a few reasons,” I explained. “I want to try to talk to Cora, maybe if I tell her about the nature of the game the archons are playing she’ll stop all of this. I doubt it, but it's worth a shot. Everyone deserves a chance at redemption and no matter how much I can’t stand her, I still want to give her that chance.”

  “Dude,” Ryan said, dead serious. “Be careful with her. She can have you stroking her like a kitten in no time at all.”

  I fake vomited. “Not gunna happen, buddy,” I said. “Believe me, she’s tried before.”

  Ryan made a face at that. “Well, I don’t really agree with her deserving another chance, but that’s not my call. What’s the other reason you want to stay?”

  “If it does devolve into a fight, I want to do as much damage to her and her horde as possible. I know she can just regrow them or whatever, but if she wins here, she will go after the tribe and take them out next. She started there, too. I need to even the odds as much as I can. Plus, a fight is always good to level your skills,” I grinned at him.

  “Hah, you are a glutton for punishment,” Ryan laughed.

  I pulled up an Illusory Map, showing Ryan everywhere I had been and the route we had taken. “Think you can remember that?” I asked.

  He nodded and tapped the side of his head. “Easy, Scout class skill allows me to have a mental map. It can incorporate what you just showed me, so I pretty much can't ever get lost if it’s a place I have been to or I have a good enough map
.”

  “Great,” I said, “I love all the crazy skills in this game.”

  “Yeah, I have been pretty happy with my class. I guess this is it then?” he asked.

  “Yeah, don’t worry, I’ll catch up to you.” We clasped arms and bro-hugged before he leapt over the wall, quickly running into the woods. I sighed as I surveyed this village. It was a real marvel. I knew that in the years, decades, and centuries to come this would seem like nothing more than a backwater, but it was beautiful to me, all the more so because I knew it was doomed.

  So I stood alone in the village, waiting anxiously for that doom.

  Chapter 45

  The wait was longer than I expected. I hoped she hadn’t caught on to my plan to evacuate the kids and gone straight to the tribe. I checked Madison’s health- still full.

  I wandered around the village. It truly was exciting to see something like this in the game. I couldn’t wait to see what the future held when people weren’t being attacked by hordes of zombies or psychotic megalomaniacs. City building was going to be a super fun component. At least I hoped so, anyway.

  I was worried about my encounter with Cora; it seemed like she had amplified her manipulation ability. There was nothing like granting a person who thought the world revolved around themselves, the power to make the world revolve around themself. I had to be careful about talking to her, but at the same time, I really felt the need to try. Maybe she didn’t understand what she was doing by working with the Archon of Chaos. Maybe I could convince her to knock it off.

  To keep myself company, I summoned a couple of flunkies, practicing a bit with controlling them. I found when I ignored them for long enough they began to act like normal creatures, running around and playing with each other, climbing the buildings and jumping off to glide over to another. I would pet them and throw tidbits of food that they would hungrily devour. If I focused on them, they would come scurrying back and climb to my shoulders to await my orders.

  I noticed as I was practicing my summoning that the two flunkies had the same markings every time I summoned them. One was gray with black stripes down its back, and the other had only a single black stripe and a host of white dots in its fur. I tried summoning them and adding spell effects to the summons, and while their colors would change, their markings didn’t.