PrimeVerse: Dose of Chaos: A GameLit / LitRPG Adventure

by R K Billiau

  “Let’s move,” I said, pointing in the direction of the ping. I didn’t want to overly read into it, but something felt off. I let out a ‘whoop!’ as four beautiful little white dots populated on my map and an audible growl as two other dots- red ones- showed up, too. That must be the reason for the lack of ping response.

  “Gotta go, gobey-os,” I said, taking off at a sprint. We were close, so close, but whatever was attacking them was even closer.

  A shrill scream sunk my heart and quickened my pace. Another minute or so of running, and I could make out a section of trees illuminated in an orange glow.

  “Hey!” I shouted, not sure of my plan. “We’re here! Over here!”

  I could make out hushed terror. Soft whining and groans and sobs. I could hear grunting and flesh on flesh, but still couldn’t see anything. There was an ear-piercing scream that wasn’t of the human variety, and angry snorting. Was a mad pig on the loose?

  I popped off a Light spell, a small coin of light about the brightness of a torch ignited above my head that lit me up. I kept running, the gromlins right at my heels. I could make out two silhouettes, one waving and stabbing a large, burning torch, making the orange glow dance around and the forest felt like it was moving. The other silhouette kicked and punched in badass fashion, and I smiled at seeing my friend.

  “Kai! Over here! It’s Hudson!” I said and flared my light spell for a second. As the light expanded, it illuminated the strangest creature pawing the ground directly in front of me. It was the vague size and shape of a large boar, with beady little black eyes, a few craggily teeth poking out from its mouth, and exaggerated tusks. Its face was nearly hairless, with a few patches of coarse hair sprouting here and there. But what covered the rest of its body is what surprised me.

  What must have been thousands of beautiful, black and gray quills lined its entire coat from behind its neck to the tip of its tail. The ones along its back stood straight out, while it snorted and grunted and threw its head side to side. Then it screamed and charged right for me.

  I had hardly any time to react, but instinctively cast Mana Orb and pulled it into a shield, just in the nick of time to prevent two tusk holes in my chest. I was knocked backwards on my ass, and my Mana shield shattered, sucking 15% of my Mana. The pokey pig shook its angry head and turned away from me. It took me half a second longer than it should have to realize what was happening, and I frantically scrambled to get to my feet, taking a face and chest full of extremely sharp quills.

  “Ouch!” I screamed in an octave I would have been embarrassed about if I wasn’t in so much pain. A Bleed debuff popped and my Pain debuff jumped straight to 40%, with my health dropping a huge chunk. My eyes were blurry, but I smiled as I saw three green streaks jump on the boar, gnarling and gnashing and screaming and snorting and in what seemed like no time at all, a system message popped in my vision.

  You have slain a Boarcupine!

  You have gained 5 XP; you gain a party bonus of 2 XP!

  “Gromlins!” I heard a familiar voice cry, and like a slow motion horror movie I somehow couldn’t stop, I watched as my friend karate kicked one of the injured gromlins on the ground, sending him flying.

  “Kai! No!” was all I could get out. I began pulling quills from my flesh and moved toward the boar corpse, gromlins, and Kai. “Stop!”

  Kai looked at me like maybe I’d hit my head. My pain debuff had dropped and I was finally seeing clearly. “I know it’s weird, don’t hurt them,” I said, still pulling quills. “I killed Cora. When she died, she lost her hold over them. The original villagers, they’re in there. I know they still look like gromlins, and well, are gromlins, but they aren’t bad without her control.”

  “So where are the rest of the villagers?” Kai asked.

  I hung my head. “I wish I could have brought them all. They seemed to be coming out of their fog at different rates. With the massive fire, I had to just get out with the ones I had.”

  “Fire?” Kai asked.

  I sighed heavily. “The village is lost, man. It was an inferno when we left and burning like kindling. I’m sure it's ash by now.” Like always, Kai’s face remained stoic.

  A screech grabbed our attention and I felt like an idiot, forgetting there was still a fight going on. The gromlins all laid on the ground, the battle evident on their bodies, blood pooling from the many pokes and holes.

  “Hang tight,” I said to them, as Kai and I went to find the fight.

  We came into the opening of a circle of trees, and I saw Madison huddled with the children, who looked pretty worse for the wear. They were dirty, some were crying, all had puffy eyes- from the tears or exhaustion or both, probably. I smiled when our eyes met in the hazy orange glow, and she smiled back, children piled on her, beside her, and behind her. I was so relieved to see her. I knew she was okay, she could hold her own, but having her up close and personal was my preference.

  Graham had placed himself squarely between the attacking animal and the children. His spear was wedged in the ground, angled out toward the enemy, defending the kids.

  Ryan was still waving and poking the torch at the remaining boarcupine, which seemed slightly smaller than the last one, and despite the spattering of quills sticking out from various parts of him, seemed to be Managing well.

  The few puffs of hair on this boar had been scorched off, and it looked righteously pissed. The pig turned to shoot more quills, when the poor thing caught Kai’s foot unexpectedly in the face as it spun. It flew to the side, squealing in angry pain, as I cast a Mana Orb and sent it spear-shaped into the things side. It squealed again, trying desperately to stand up, as Kai smashed at it with his foot repeatedly and Ryan blasted it with a bolt of lightning. It finally stopped moving and fell quiet.

  You have slain a Boarcupine!

  You have gained 5 XP; you gain a party bonus of 2 XP!

  I hurried over and looted the body, thinking it would be awesome to summon one of these strange creatures. A loot window opened.

  Boarcupine meat

  25 intact Boarcupine quills

  I used Scavenging and fist bumped the air when the window showed a Bourcupine Core.

  “Sweet!” I said out loud.

  I ran back to the gromlins, a quick wave to Madison as I passed.

  “Everyone here okay?” I asked. Claire shook her head and pointed to the gromlin still laying down.

  “Caden… hurt…” she said in broken language. It was so strange to me. I had just had a conversation with her yesterday.

  I knelt by Caden, who was mostly unresponsive. It seemed he had been the lucky one to take Kai’s kick to the head, and it looked like he may have had an injury.

  Graham approached and huffed, “What’s going on here?” He knelt next to me and got a good look at the gromlin in front of me. “Is that… Caden?” he asked, incredulous.

  “I need Madison,” I shouted over my shoulder, supporting Caden’s head with my hand. “Quickly!”

  “What’s going on here, Hudson?” Graham asked.

  “I’ll explain in a minute. We’ve got to get him help first,” I responded.

  I looked back at Claire and her husband, Jon. They both sat on the ground, quietly. They were bloody but seemed okay.

  “Are you okay?” I asked. They nodded in unison.

  “This is nuts,” Graham muttered mostly under his breath.

  I jerked around as a hand touched my shoulder.

  “What… what is this, Hudson?” Madison asked, fear in her voice.

  “It’s okay, Madison,” I said. “But Caden,” I nodded to the gromlin under my arm, “needs your help. And quickly. He took a Kai special right to the face after saving me from that angry pig.”

  Madison quickly knelt beside me, touched the obvious injury on the gromlins head, and a yellow glow shone around her hand. We watched as the scalp knit itself back together and Caden took a huge, deep breath.

  “Thank… you…” he said clumsily, feeling at his head. He smiled at
Madison, but I wished he hadn’t. She jumped back a foot or so and he quickly closed his mouth. Those teeth were something else.

  I stood and pulled Madison up with me, wrapping my arms all the way around her. She leaned into me, hugging me back. I pulled away from her and she smiled up at me.

  “How’s it going?” I asked, hoping my face didn’t give away how stupidly giddy I was to be with her again. “Are you okay?”

  She looked like she might cry, but she inhaled deeply and gave a small smile. She was beautiful and she was brave.

  “I’m okay,” she said. “The kids… it’s pretty bad. I mean, they’re so resilient, and they’re being so good. But, oh Hudson, it’s just so awful,” she said, and fell back into my arms. I hugged her tightly and when she pulled away, she had her brave face on again.

  Daybreak was slowly falling over the forest, and it was beginning to come alive again. We could see a little better and the birds were singing their songs.

  “Madison,” I said, turning her towards the gromlin trio, still sitting on the ground. “This is Caden, Claire, and Jon,” I pointed to them, respectively. “When I killed Cora, she lost her control over them and they slowly started coming to.”

  She squatted down right in front of them, scrutinizing their features. After a few seconds, her face lit up with a huge smile and she threw her arms around a very taken aback Caden. This also surprised me, as nothing about gromlins screamed ‘hug me’. But that was Madison. Ever the loving optimist.

  She hugged the other two, then stood up and said, “Your kids are going to be SO excited!”

  “Uh, Madison, I’m, uh, not sure that’s the, uh, best idea,” I said, uncomfortable talking about it in front of the gromlins.

  “What’s not the best idea?” she asked.

  I pulled her to the side, the gromlins eyeing us warily. “The kids will not react well to this,” I whispered.

  “Hudson don’t be ridiculous. Clearly those are their parents, and the kids would rather have them look different than have no parents at all.”

  “I mean… if you really think so,” I said.

  “I’ll be right back, I have some people that will be so excited to see you,” Madison said, facing the gromlins, then skipping off toward the kids.

  The silence after she left was uncomfortable, so I busied myself by looting the remaining Boarcupine.

  The loot window opened:

  Boarcupine meat

  Boarcupine core

  I was excited about a second Boarcupine core when my Lucky Find went off and something really interesting was in it.

  Lucky Find!

  Pin-Cushion Cloak - Armor 10

  This cloak will shoot quills at enemies attacking from behind.

  1 use per day

  Damage 100 piercing

  Well, now that looked super cool. Before I had time to try on my new cool coat, Madison came back with a slew of children.

  Without any hesitation, a few of them screamed, “Mommy! Daddy!” and ran up to the gromlins, embracing them heartily with zero fear or trepidation. I was completely perplexed as the scene unfolded in front of me. I still was cautious around these creepy looking creatures, but the kids fell into their arms as if they were still human. The gromlins, in turn, acted like typical human parents, hugging and kissing their kids, inspecting them for injuries, and holding them close.

  The group of kids whose parents weren’t any of the three gromlins, hung back a little watching. Madison stayed with them, comforting them, rubbing backs and holding hands. The two little twins were crying and I went over to them and knelt between them, wrapping one arm around each.

  “We will get your mommy and daddy back, too,” I said. “Don’t worry, okay?” I looked up at Madison, who was looking at me through wet eyes. I stood, holding each twins’ hand, and she hugged me with one arm around my waist.

  “Hudson,” she whispered, “I love your heart, but you have to be careful what you promise these guys. They’ll hold you to it,” she said.

  I looked her straight in the face. “I hope they do. I meant every word. I know what it’s like to grow up without parents. No one deserves that,” I said, watching the gromlin parents with their human children.

  Claire, the woman gromlin, warbled something in the guttural gromlin language I had heard them speak between each other, and her daughter laughed and said, “Oh mommy, I’m so glad you’re here!”

  I was fifteen or so feet away, so I dropped the twins’ hands and moved closer.

  Caden was speaking gromlin too, and I couldn’t understand a word, but he was going on and on and rustled Nathaniel’s hair. “I know, Daddy,” the boy said. “I hope we find her soon.”

  My jaw dropped open. How did the kids know gromlin?!

  Chapter 48

  “Do you see they’re talking to each other?” I asked Madison, dumbfounded. “They aren’t speaking the same language, but it looks like they completely understand what the other is saying.”

  “Oh! I wonder if it’s that family thing Shara told me about,” she responded. “She said they have a skill called Familial Bond that you’re given with your immediate family. She kind of described it like our Party Screen. I bet this is part of that!”

  I watched in awe. What a neat game mechanic. And, selfishly, I was excited we could have translators. It would be super helpful.

  “Can you understand what they’re saying?” I asked one of the older girls in the group behind me. She shook her head.

  Madison smiled. “It has to be Familial Bond. That is really special.”

  Kai and Ryan came over and stopped in their tracks when they saw the gromlins with their human kids. Kai braced, as if ready to dart in and save the kids, so I quickly put my hand up just in case.

  “It’s strange,” I said, “but the parents and kids are acting like nothing has even changed.”

  “It’s so cool!” Madison said.

  Kai watched carefully, not quite letting down his guard. Ryan smiled at the reunited families. I hadn’t really thought about how strange this must be for him and Graham, since they were so close to everyone.

  “We need to get a move on, guys,” Ryan spoke up. The gromlins looked up from their kids. Ryan went over to them and really eyed them. “Holy crap it really is you guys,” he said, studying them. He smiled and said, “I’m so glad to see you.” I think he really meant it, but he didn’t shake hands or hug them or anything like that. Either he just wasn’t touchy feely, or he was still trepidatious. I couldn’t blame him.

  “He’s right,” I agreed. “We have a long way to go. I assume we’ll move quite slowly,” I nodded toward the children, “so we should get a move on. One thing, though,” I said, and disbanded the party. “Madison, will you form a party with all the adults?”

  “Oh, sure!” she said, and the prompt popped in my vision. I selected YES, and seven other health bars populated in my HUD.

  Graham took out some bread and dried meat from his inventory and passed it around. The gromlins ate heartily, and I doubted they had had anything else since their transition. The kids with their parents enjoyed the food as well, while most of the other kids just picked at it.

  Graham tossed one of the twins up on his shoulders, so I did the same with the other twin and summoned Marle and Lucca to entertain the kids while we walked. “Let’s do this.”

  It was an extremely uneventful walk. It gave me plenty of time to clear my notifications. I had gained some points in the Agility, Self, and Emotion attributes, and the Toughness, Magic, and Dose of Chaos skills from the recent battle, but it looked like I only got XP for killing Cora. I must have outleveled all the gromlins enough that even with the bonuses of fighting against a group I wouldn’t get any XP. At least Cora had been worth a hefty 25XP, the group bonuses worked great for her! I inspected my character sheet next.

  Name: Hudson

  Year: 0

  Race: Human

  Age: 18

  Title: Vassal of the Adjudicator


  Class: Quaesitor

  Prestige Class: Core Mage

  Level: 7

  HP: 406

  Armor: 12

  Body – 188 Stamina

  · Strength - 13

  · Agility - 19

  · Physique - 18

  Mind – 360 Mana

  · Conscious - 19

  · Subconscious - 17

  · Superconscious - 19

  Heart – 154 Zeal

  · Empathy - 9

  · Projection - 5

  · Emotion - 17

  Soul – 151 Spirit

  · Self - 2

  · Aura - 2

  · Connection - 9

  Attunements:

  · Light

  Class Skills:

  · Audeo - 15

  · Core Mastery - 12

  · Core Manipulation - 16

  · Magic - 15

  · Lucky Find - 16

  · DualCast - 10

  Personal Skills:

  · Archive - 20

  · Illugraphy - 29

  Secondary Skills:

  · Toughness - 12

  · Active Dodge - 10

  Unique:

  Character Scan - NA

  Prime of Death - NA

  Dose of Chaos - NA

  We only came across a handful of globs, and we didn’t even shield the kids from them anymore, we defeated them so quickly. We were moving slow enough that our Stamina never ran out. We rested at night, one or two of us staying awake. We heard the grunts and squeals of Boarcupines in the dark, but none of them ever approached. I guess a group our size didn’t seem worth the fight. Smart little piggies.

  Ever since the forest had come alive, it wasn’t as dark. More sunlight came in through the canopy, and while it certainly wasn’t warm, we didn’t have a hard time staying comfortable. And I was extra thankful for my boots.