Deserts Of Naroosh

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by Bradford Bates




  Deserts Of Naroosh

  Rise Of The Grandmaster™ Book Three

  Bradford Bates

  Michael Anderle

  This book is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Sometimes both.

  Copyright © 2021 by LMBPN Publishing

  Cover Art by Jake @ J Caleb Design

  http://jcalebdesign.com / [email protected]

  Cover copyright © LMBPN Publishing

  A Michael Anderle Production

  LMBPN Publishing supports the right to free expression and the value of copyright. The purpose of copyright is to encourage writers and artists to produce the creative works that enrich our culture.

  The distribution of this book without permission is a theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like permission to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), please contact [email protected]. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.

  LMBPN Publishing

  PMB 196, 2540 South Maryland Pkwy

  Las Vegas, NV 89109

  First US edition, February 2021

  eBook ISBN: 978-1-64971-450-3

  Print ISBN: 978-1-64971-451-0

  Contents

  List of Tim’s Current Stats and Skills

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Chapter 48

  Chapter 49

  Chapter 50

  Chapter 51

  Chapter 52

  Chapter 53

  Chapter 54

  Author Notes - Bradford Bates

  Author Notes - Michael Anderle

  Books By Bradford Bates

  Books By Michael Anderle

  Connect with The Authors

  About Bradford Bates

  The Deserts of Naroosh Team

  Thanks to our beta readers

  Kelly O'Donnell, Mary Morris, Larry Omans, Rachel bBeckford

  Thanks to the JIT Readers

  Dave Hicks

  Dorothy Lloyd

  Veronica Stephan-Miller

  Diane L. Smith

  Jeff Goode

  Angel LaVey

  Allen Collins

  Rachel Beckford

  If I’ve missed anyone, please let me know!

  Editor

  The Skyhunter Editing Team

  List of Tim’s Current Stats and Skills

  “Tim” Level Fifteen Battlesworn

  Primary Stats

  Strength: 13

  Endurance: 14

  Dexterity: 20

  Intelligence: 32

  Wisdom: 44

  Perception: 5

  Vitality: 3

  Revitalization: 3

  Luck: 6

  Notable Gear

  Simple Dagger of Dexterity, +1 (X2)

  Staff of Divine Retribution, +4 Intelligence +5 Wisdom

  Circlet of Wisdom, +1

  Boots of Swift Regeneration, Increase base movement speed and Mana regeneration by 1%

  Battlesworn Robes of Justice, +4 Intelligence +6 Wisdom

  Belt of Wisdom, +2

  Wristband of the Goddess, 10% damage reduction to dark-based attacks

  Leather Wraps of Divergent Health, 10% chance for single target healing spell to jump targets and heal the secondary recipient for 50% of the value.

  Ring of Marginal Transcendence, +2 Wisdom

  Necklace of Unshakable Will, +3 Wisdom +1 Intelligence

  Pants of Recovery, Increases mana regeneration

  Jerkin of Unmeasurable Delight, +1 to all base stats

  Paul’s Gloves of Mending, +4 Wisdom +7 Intelligence

  Skills

  Healing Orb: Journeyman rank one

  Dodge: Apprentice rank one

  Flame Burst: Apprentice rank three

  Cleanse: Apprentice rank seven

  Appeal to the Goddess: Novice rank one

  Infiltrator: Novice rank three

  Small Blades: Apprentice rank six

  Throwing Knives: Apprentice rank two

  Sneak: Apprentice rank three

  Night Vision: Novice rank five

  Backstab: Novice rank seven

  Flame Burst: Apprentice rank three

  Weaken Undead: Apprentice rank five

  Divine Light: Apprentice rank five

  Healing Storm: Novice rank one

  Curse of Giving: Novice rank five

  Behold My Power: Novice rank six

  Who Needs a Shield: Novice rank five

  Quick Feet: Novice level one

  Stances

  Way of the Boulder: Novice rank nine

  Way of the River: Novice rank nine

  Buffs

  Armor of Eternia: Novice rank six

  Attacks of the Faithful: Apprentice rank one

  Open Quests

  The Deserts of Naroosh

  Chapter One

  “Wake up!” ShadowLily yelled.

  Hey, it wasn’t his fault he fell back asleep after the last time she told him to do something. Mornings weren’t his thing, and it sure didn’t smell like coffee. Tim pried his eyes open, wondering why his mouth tasted so bad.

  Never bet a fire mage how many different foods you can eat at once without getting sick.

  He wanted to laugh but wasn’t sure if it would make him throw up again or intensify the ringing in his head. Why was there this horrible pounding noise?

  Something jabbed him in the ribs.

  “Grahh.” Swatting her hands away, Tim mumbled, “It can’t be morning yet. Go away.”

  “If you answered the door as I asked you to, then we’d know who’s been out there for the last ten minutes.” ShadowLily climbed out of bed, looking for her clothes.

  Damn, they must have had a good night if her clothes were on the floor and not in her inventory.

  The pounding in his head didn’t stop when whoever was beating on the door finally relinquished their furious barrage of hate against such an innocent barrier, and it took him a moment to realize he was hungover. He must have been out of it if he didn’t remember to cleanse himself. A quick cast of the spell made him feel a million times better. As the pounding faded from his ears, he tossed the sheets aside and stood.

  They needed to invent something back in the real world to take the edge off a bad night out. He’d heard of IV services that would come to your house, but he’d always hated needles, and an IV hydration service seemed a little extreme. Maybe when it got
to the point you started hiring someone to pump you full of liquids, it was a better idea to tone down the drinking a wee bit.

  Sure would be helpful after a good party though.

  He tried to equip his clothes and realized that they must have been in the tangled mess on the floor. It looked like a laundromat exploded in their room. Clothes mixed with sheets, combined with towels, and what was that?

  Fuck it. He didn’t have to get dressed to answer the door.

  Now that his senses were coming back to him, he realized there was no way it was morning yet. It was still dark outside the windows. It was damned inconsiderate to bang on someone's door in the middle of the night unless it was an emergency.

  Holy shit, could it be an emergency?

  Was it already time to save the world again? It hadn’t been more than a few hours since they wrapped up their last adventure. Eternia already dropped their next quest on them. Not that he was complaining. It wasn’t like he entered the game to sit around and drink beer. It was just that a full night's sleep would be nice, and if he couldn’t have it then whoever showed up better have coffee.

  Tim reached the door and pulled it open. “What?”

  JaKobi gave naked Tim a solid once-over. “It seems as though Vitaria sent us one last surprise. Seraphina asked us to meet her at the city gates.”

  “That was fifteen minutes ago, so you better hurry,” Cassie snapped as she took a hearty eyeful.

  Lorelei yawned. “And maybe get some pants. While I’m sure Seraphina has seen one before it’s probably considered quite rude to go around with that thing flopping about.”

  He’d almost forgotten that he’d decided not to put on clothes before answering the door. His cheeks burned as he felt the fury of his awakening fading. There wasn’t anything to do now but put a brave face on. “Pants are overrated,” Tim casually replied as he sauntered back into the room, trying to find the damn things before anyone figured out he wasn’t nearly as comfortable with this as he was letting on.

  If Seraphina was calling on them in the middle of the night, it must be important. The city’s leader had her bit of mischief to attend to. I doubt she’d give that up just to screw with my sleep. Tim wondered what kind of horrible monster Vitaria dumped on their doorstep this time. With the passage under the mountain clear, the city of Tristholm should have been safe. It just went to show that it never paid to take your safety for granted.

  Tim looked up, wondering if ShadowLily had found his pants, and saw that she had climbed back into bed while he was gone. He wasn’t the only one who didn’t feel like doing anything right now. Not sure if she was hungover, Tim cast Cleanse on her.

  “Apparently we have a monster to fight.” He pulled the covers off ShadowLily’s head. “This is why you never open the door.”

  “I didn’t open the door. You did.” ShadowLily hit him with a pillow. “It wasn’t like we were going to get any sleep with them pounding at the door anyway.”

  ShadowLily was right, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t grumble about it. What was life without a few well-placed gripes? As long as you kept them in moderation. No one wanted to hang out with someone who bitched about everything.

  He smiled and decided it was his turn to return the poke she’d given him earlier. He gave her a gentle nudge in the ribs and squawked as she grabbed his wrist and flipped him onto his back. A second later, she straddled him with a giggle. The move was so unexpected that he completely forgot he left the door open.

  Shit, with her on top of him, he forgot what his name was.

  ShadowLily looked down at him with a stern face and waved her finger back and forth. “I do the poking around here. You do the things the poker tells you to do.”

  Her expression turned hungry, and Tim knew today would be a good day.

  Cassie cleared her throat from the doorway. “I don’t think you have time for that.”

  ShadowLily rolled off him, taking the blanket with her. Tim was left lying there at full salute and nothing he could do about it. Why did his brain move so damn slow without coffee? Not to mention how his critical thinking skills were cut by ninety percent as soon as he saw boobies.

  “Five minutes or I’m sending the guards in to haul you away,” Cassie yelled, and their door slammed closed.

  Tim leaned over the edge of the bed into his girlfriend’s furious face. “So I have four minutes to kill.”

  “That line would have worked before I almost had sex with you in front of our friends.” The assassin’s clothes appeared as she stood up.

  It wasn’t as if she didn’t have a point, and maybe it wasn’t as funny as he thought it was. “It’s just…” Tim waved at her gorgeous body as she strapped her weapons into place. “When I see you, sometimes I forget about everything else.”

  A dagger appeared in her hand, and the blade slowly spun in her flat palm. “If you weren’t so damn cute, I’d toss you out the window.” The knife stopped spinning, and she slashed the tiniest papercut of a scratch across his chest before putting it away. “Next time, the door is closed, or the clothes stay on.”

  Tim healed himself. “Sounds like a good rule of thumb.”

  It wasn’t like he wanted to put on a show for the world. He just needed more sleep to make better decisions.

  Two minutes later Tim tracked down his last item of clothing from the floor, and they were out the door. Cassie smirked at them before turning and leading the way to their destination. It didn’t take long for the sound of shouting to reach his ears. It was the kind of noise you heard and instantly knew trouble was brewing. Cassie glanced back, and he motioned for her to get going. He knew it meant running, but sometimes an adventurer had to do what an adventurer had to do.

  The world didn’t save itself.

  Cassie slid to a stop inside the courtyard holding her arms out to make sure no one went past her. There was a giant cobra in the center of the open space and a guard lying six feet away moaning in agony. Five or six of Seraphina’s men had their spears out and were trying to back the giant snake away from their fallen comrade without much success.

  The soldiers didn’t seem able to get close enough to the wounded man without putting themselves at risk. The best they could do was keep the cobra from finishing off the wounded warrior. A rescue attempt would take a full-out assault, and Tim was pretty sure he didn’t get called down here to deal with one snake that a handful of Seraphina’s archers could kill from the rooftops.

  Violence should be a last resort, the failsafe for when all other options turn to shit.

  Tim quickly cast Cleanse on the wounded guard. The man stopped moaning, and his eyes almost bugged out of his head when he saw the cobra. He back-peddled, looking like a crab going after a tasty treat it spied down the beach. When he was back in the arms of his fellow soldiers the guard’s wits returned, and he gave Tim a firm nod of thanks before letting two of the soldiers escort him away.

  The rest of Seraphina’s men still held the giant cobra at bay, but its movements were growing agitated. There was no chance the cobra would live in an attack on her men, so what were they waiting for? Something else was going on here, something he hadn’t figured out yet with all the commotion.

  Tim drew a deep breath and let his eyes move past the snake to take in the rest of the room. Looking completely relaxed as it used a dagger to cut slices of orange fruit before tossing them into its mouth was a creature Tim had never seen before. It was a Were of some kind, that much was certain, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on which. The thing in front of him was shorter and more compact than the werewolves but was easily over six feet tall.

  A six-foot-tall were of any kind wasn’t something to fuck with.

  At least not alone. Thankfully, he brought backup.

  Tim took a minute to look the creature over and thought about where he had seen the dog-like features before. The name of the Discovery show he’d been watching escaped him, but Tim knew what type he was looking at now. He’d always thought hyenas were
kind of cute.

  Like big furry love balls with razor-sharp teeth.

  The kind of thing that was super cute on TV and terrifying in real life. Not that he ever planned on meeting a hyena in real life, let alone its Were counterpart in a game.

  A quick scan of his interface showed that the creature was titled Jabari’s Chosen. Tim wasn’t sure if that was the creature’s name or its classification. It sounded a lot more like a generic title so probably not a name. After letting his pet attack one of the guards, Tim was pretty sure the thing's name didn’t matter. A messenger didn’t stroll in armed to the teeth if they weren’t looking for a fight.

  The spear in the werehyena’s hands looked like it had seen some heavy use. It never paid to take a skilled fighter lightly. The difference between a trained fighter and your average street-tough was like the difference between the guys at the “Y” and the ones in the NBA.

  Thankfully, Tim and Seraphina had a few skilled fighters of their own.

  Before taking charge of the situation or addressing the monster, Tim wanted to observe Jabari’s Chosen for a few moments longer. He was more than willing to let the guards continue doing their jobs while he took in the situation. The more you knew about an opponent, the easier it was to defeat them.

 

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