Reborn as a Baron Lord (Light Novel) (A Steampunk LITRPG Light Novel Book 1)

by Han Yang

  Not a chance was I going to fight him in the open near my wounded allies.

  I faked a quick attack at the last warrior, ensuring I had his attention. He sliced air in a mighty chop that I easily avoided.

  A mad cackle escaped my lips when I fled into the small village. “Come you pathetic dog!” I taunted.

  Yeah, that wasn’t really needed. The big brute barreled for me with lethal intent. I picked up my run, knowing he’d gain on me with enough time.

  The laughter escaping my lips swapped to a grin. I had caught the worker who’d flung the spear flat footed. The whites of the leperas’s eyes were bright with shock.

  When I faked a thrust the foe flinched, tucking his body into a defensive self-hug. I swiped the blade across his weight bearing leg, severing the limb in a clean motion.

  I gripped the cavern floor with the ball of my left foot, springing at an inhuman angle with the use of my augmented foot.

  I jumped to land behind the teetering worker.

  My free hand shot out, clasping the back of the jerkin the leperas wore. I held him in place for just long enough.

  The brute was forced to run his ally through with the big cleaver of a sword. The weapon spread me with green blood as it erupted out the back of the worker.

  I spun when the duo entangled. I waited for the right moment to slay the last warrior.

  ZAP!

  A bluish orb zoomed out of the forehead of the soldier. The body of the leperas warrior didn’t comprehend the brain had been fried. The body stumbled and fought with the entangled worker.

  There was a slurring of speech before a final collapse.

  The archer, the one with a gaping shoulder wound was the last enemy holding a long dagger.

  I walked confidently for my foe. My stride was sure and smooth.

  It was easy to tell the archer was using an offhand due to its wounds. A weak thrust jabbed for my chest. I sliced down at the wrist, removing the hand.

  The archer knew at this point. One arm ruined and the other missing a hand.

  There was a pleading in the eyes when I lopped the head clean off the body. When the decapitated head quit rolling I stared at my foe’s vacant glare.

  The eyelids shut unnaturally, giving me a bit of closure that this was a magical creation.

  I went to start the process of killing the remaining workers only to find them face down with hands atop their heads. Not wanting to leave anything to chance, I piled discarded weapons in a rush.

  “You move and you die,” I commanded and there was no response from the surrendered foes.

  Taking a risk, I ran to see Joana with a medical patch over a passed out Ginli.

  “What happened?” Joana asked, her movements were slow, and blood dribbled down her cheek.

  “You need a long rifle with a short barrel. You flew into a wall, and it looks like your bussie busted. She took a random spear to the guts. Which you know. I killed the defenders and the rest surrendered,” I said. “Minus the last one you shot. Nice aim by the way.”

  She wiped a tear from her eye. “I really like ambush hunting.”

  She tried to alleviate some of the tension, and her words worked admirably.

  “Can you save her?” I asked.

  “Huh? Yeah. She’ll be fine. A wound like this means a longer healing. Maybe four or five days. Help me carry her to the carriage. The steambots will answer to me now that she is incapacitated,” Joana said in a sad tone. “Always wanted to be called empress though.”

  “I got this, organize the mess please, and can you command the surrender leperas?” I asked and she nodded.

  “This room only, but yes. You simply tap them with a desire to have them work…” She winced. “Or stab them in the heart. They’ll lay like that until you choose,” Joana said and I let out a relieved sigh.

  “Good, then we secure Ginli into her bed, crank up her H intake, and go about cleaning up the mess. I don’t see any sparkles on the walls as to what kind of veins this cave has,” I mentioned.

  “Behind the waterfall is the first mining point, at least that’s what she told me when we were chatting,” Joana said, struggling to pick up Ginli. She stumbled, planting herself on her ass.

  I scooped up Ginli. “Joana, you hit your head pretty good. I want ya to rest here, drink some water, and ingest some H.”

  “Bradley…”

  “Yes dear,” I said cutely.

  She blushed. “Thank you.”

  “Nothing of it. When I’m back I’ll sing you a sweet lullaby and help you heal too. What do I need to command the steambots up top?” I asked.

  “Uh, they won’t. Just use these workers until I heal.”

  “Righty O.”

  I carried Ginli up for the carriage. The adrenaline was wearing off and my arms grew shaky.

  When I reached the surface… I had to set Ginli on the cart and catch a few deep breaths. Not from the exertion, but from the panic I fought.

  I had almost died and I wasn’t sure if I liked this incredibly exhilarating feeling of cheating death. There was one thing to look forward to.

  A bit of a breather as we mined the first alcove behind the waterfall.

  I was giddy to find out what treasure rested in its walls.

  CHAPTER 14

  After two unsuccessful attempts, I managed to pry myself clear of Joana’s embrace. My bag rested under her head to help her sleep off the concussion she had experienced.

  The worker leperas were still face down, awaiting death or servitude. I’d see if there was some way to get their H without killing them, but deep down, I knew the truth. The wilds were not for the faint of heart. This area was kill or be killed.

  Survival in the cities relied on the death of such creatures. A vicious cycle that was required to ensure others lived.

  Brushing myself off, I left for the workers. There was a crunch of my boots from the grit underfoot that echoed in the quiet cavern. I arrived at the first facedown foe.

  I tapped the shoulder, feeling a zap of hydrox flow from the female and into me. I… There was a sensation in my mind. As if I had a shadow, mimicking my thoughts.

  “Can you hear me?” I asked and received a nod. “Sit up.” The leperas did as told. “Will you follow my commands?”

  “Yes overseer,” she said in a growly tone.

  “Excellent. Any work you cannot do?” I asked.

  The female worker nodded before saying, “Cannot fights for Overseer.”

  “Perfect. Can you extract hydrox?” I asked, pointing to the dead bodies.

  “Burn flesh. Can prepare bodies instead,” the worker told me.

  “Ah, right, makes sense. At the cave entrance there are tools on a cart. Go fetch them. I told the steambot to ignore you. If you die, sorry, not sorry,” I said with a wince.

  The leperas didn’t care. I went down the line, connecting to each of the remaining workers. I sent them to organize the dead, sort weapons, and collect everything of value into a pile.

  With that done, I carefully went around the edge of the lake. Darcy was in my hands, aimed at the water.

  A tingling on my mind had me forgetting why I named my weapon Darcy. I simply felt… love.

  I spared a moment, looking at the weapon and hoping something would come back to me.

  When nothing happened, I told myself the name would come back to me in time.

  I saw the water was clean but mysterious with its lack of light. Glancing over my shoulder I knew more wood would be needed to keep the space lit. Even if I could see in the dark with one eye, I could see better in the light with two.

  My sight of Joana resting near the tunnel entrance had me sighing. What was I going to do with her. She was smitten, and I felt like I was too. There were a lot of amazing qualities the white haired woman possessed that drew me to her.

  If I could remember who my mom was I was sure she’d like her.

  I came to a firm resolution to give her feeling a try. A new beginning could be good for u
s both. Feeling I’d reached a conclusion, I forced myself to let the thoughts go.

  The crash of water smashing into the small lake increased until it deafened my hearing from the proximity. I saw a path that only had a single wet patch from where the falls splashed down.

  While I knew a shower after almost three days of adventuring was needed, digging in wet clothes was not on my to-do list.

  I jumped the splashing section, and landed with my weapon at the ready. I frowned when there was simply a new cave. Each step forward was careful and slow. Remembering Leon’s story of a floor collapsing, I tapped my foot against the cavern’s rough floor, and made sure no hollow sounds retorted.

  Hmm…

  There was nothing in here. It was dark and maybe that was the problem. I left the area, feeling certain the first prize was not a trap. Heading back for Joana I saw the workers executing the grisly task of opening chest cavities.

  The whirl and hiss of steamsaws was loud in the echoing cavern. Already a few workers stood around without tasks. Apparently, there was little of value in the village.

  I walked to the same earlier female leperas and said, “What ore is in this mine?”

  “Unknown, Overseer.”

  “What can you tell me about the treasure behind the cave?” I asked and this triggered something.

  “Dig.”

  Eh, good enough for me. I went half way up the incline to the surface and stole the hall light. After that I secured a mining pick and headed for the cave. I walked beyond Joana laying there and didn’t feel right having her unsecure.

  I set the pick and lamp on her softly rising chest before scooping her up in a cradle carry. She groaned, but slept through the movement. Carrying her around the lake worried me. The water was dark, looming, and creepy.

  If Ginli hadn’t been so keen on it being a lifesaver, I’d be more worried. Maybe I just had anxiety from the croc still.

  When we hopped under the water spray, Joana stirred for a brief moment. She smiled up at me, her eyes quickly fluttering back to closed. She seemed fine to me, but head injuries were no joke.

  Upon entering the hidden cavern behind the waterfall I set her down, trying my best to make her comfortable.

  I set the hydrox powered light into the middle of the floor.

  “Do I dig in the ground or the wall?” I muttered. “The obvious answer is the wall… But what if it's the floor or ceiling that has the richest veins. Really wish Ginli was awake.”

  After mulling over my options, I figured a medium amount of silver or gold was going to be better than some big mysterious haul.

  Taking the pickaxe, I chiseled at the wall. I… I was clueless as to how one mined. After a few minutes, I realized I was treating the wall like it held dinosaur bones. Each scrape of the pick was gentle, uncovering only the smallest of areas.

  Maybe I was just scared of a cave in, or waking Joana. I huffed, also not liking the fact I was alone to some extent. I left the cave mouth, walked to the leperas, and ordered them to dig in the cavern for treasure.

  My thought process was, that if in doubt, use the Gearnix system to my advantage. Giving a clean command to the minions had them doing exactly as I asked. I even ordered them to pile the treasure around the light.

  I scooped Joana up and decided to lay her down with Ginli in the carriage. I’m not sure why I was so concerned about her sleeping near me, but I had a sense of dread.

  This feeling was absolutely warranted when I heard a snarling shriek from a cat above. A steambot cursed, hissing steam in anger. I was caught flat footed with Joana in my arms.

  There was the clang of metal falling down stairs, telling me the steambot likely wasn’t winning.

  I rushed to set Joana down, dropping her the last bit.

  I jerked my torso to unsling Darcy from my shoulder, narrowed the release, and saw it needed more H. A quick insertion had the device thrumming happily.

  The sounds of a robot fighting a cat echoed out of the tunnel. The long stretching shrieks of an angry feline had me concerned.

  There was the hiss of a steambot, and the clang of metal being pummeled. I ran forward, hoping to aid the machine.

  When I arrived, I saw I was too late. A panther the size of a saber-tooth pounced. There was no warning from the beast.

  The sleek huge cat flew through the air. I saw spittle fly from its roaring mouth of massive teeth.

  I raised Darcy without being able to shoulder the weapon. It was impossible to miss if I pulled the trigger now.

  Taking the lesser of two evils I fired from my hip.

  BANG!

  The weapon shot down the tunnel with its kickback. My right shoulder disconnected, and I spun. My fall helped me dodge the momentum of a thousand pound cat.

  The huge panther crashed into the ground with a tumble.

  There was a meow of pain. I tried to remove my sword with my left hand and failed. The loud panting of my breath echoed.

  I listened while watching the cat. The chest ceased to move.

  When I inspected the animal, I saw its face was mostly melted, and exposed brains leaked out of the skull.

  “Yo, you suck,” I kicked the corpse. “Stupid cat. Where did you even come from.” I saw a destroyed steambot. “Ginli is going to be pissed.”

  I walked down to the base of the tunnel to hoist Joana over my shoulder. After this close call, I was going to hide her inside the carriage.

  She was too vulnerable and too important. Every step up the cave and into the woods for our base camp hurt. Every stupid step, I thought I might drop her with only one working arm.

  The moment I arrived, and opened the door to the carriage, Joana awoke.

  “Hey, whatcha doing?” she asked in a groggy tone.

  I closed the door and set her down on a log around the fire. “How ya feeling?”

  “Great, whatever made me dizzy earlier is gone.”

  I huffed. “Of course it is. Yank hard down on this arm please.”

  “What happened, and where is your weapon?” She saw my frown, giving me a hug. “Was there another fight?”

  “Umm… about that. Yeah. A few things happened fairly quickly. I kept feeling off with you being exposed. A random cat killed the steambot guard. I blew its face off, but tore my arm out of socket,” I told her and she covered her mouth in concern.

  “Maybe weapons that make big booms are not ideal.”

  “Ha! No. I’d rather have pain than be dead. That massive panther only died because of the power of the shot. Are you okay though?”

  She batted her lashes. “Me? Yeah, I only needed to recover from a mild concussion. I’m so sorry,” Joana said, returning to hugging me, only tighter this time. I felt the squish of her embrace. “And the ore? What kind?”

  “Uh… I don’t know. Turns out I suck at mining. I set the workers to extract whatever treasures rested in the room. I learned quickly I might need a lesson or two in how to smack a metal object into a dirt wall,” I admitted, rubbing the back of my neck.

  She broke her embrace with a sense of purpose. “We leave six steambots here to guard Ginli and I’ll get the five to follow us. Let me see your arm.”

  I tried to raise the limp limb. She jerked so fast and hard I was startled, a cry of pain escaped my lips. A loud pop left me hurting while at the same time feeling better.

  “Thanks,” I said, softly kissing her forehead.

  She nuzzled into my chest affectionately. I could tell she enjoyed being held.

  I was abandoned as she quickly checked on Ginli. “Alright, to work we go. No sense in wasting time. Probably got five days for her to finish healing. That spear went through her guts and did a lot of damage, more than I expected. Without constant hydrox and occasional cleaning she’ll die.”

  “Oh, you made it seem so basic earlier.”

  “Well it is. Assuming we live. Now go wait by the horses, I gotta pee and then order the steambots on standby to help.”

  I watched her go, seeing her happin
ess. The earlier dread and anxiety faded. Maybe there was an internal warning that had caused me to be so jaded. Even so, I realized I didn’t like being alone. Like I had… Like I had…

  I dropped the lost thought to get the steamtools and my glowing robotic head. There was a fresh body down in the cave that I was eager to frankenstein. I hummed a tune while I waited. Joana eventually showed up in a huff, minus any steambots.

  Her hands shot to her hips and she said, “They won’t leave their Empress. So… we gotta manage the leperas only. Honestly, not the worst.” She folded her arm in anger. “If she dies we would be hung for her murder. Downside of being a Huntas with a princess. Well, princess in name, not title.”

  “You okay?” I asked, seeing her calm.

  “Frustrated. Rambling. I… I envy Ginli. She was born into all this power, gets everything for free almost, and at the same time I resent her. She gambles her wealth away, leverages herself into oblivion, and mom bails her out everytime,” Joana said, exposing a side I hadn’t expected.

  “Uh, not sure what to say. All this because a steambot team is being stubborn?”

  She stepped off for the cave, noticing my pack. “Oh, good idea. So, it is partly that she lied to me. Actually, that is the crux.”

  “Huh?”

  “We… talked when you were hurt. She said if she became hurt, I could use the steambots. They never received any such command and there is a chance she forgot. The thing is Ginli never expected a random spear.

  “She is entitled. Did you know her last lover had parts cut off until she paid her debts? That was when I was still in school. I…

  “It was hard to hear. And now she is interested in you. Thankfully it’ll be a fading trend of hers. The moment she returns home, she’ll be the princess again, racking up debts, whoring the sexiest men, and only caring about herself.”

  I was catching on by this point.

  “So… you think she is using us both. You specifically... to feel better?” I asked.

  “Hell if I know what her motive is. I really think she is exploiting you and I’m just caught in her trap. Ya know what I mean?”

  I rotated my shoulder, the burning sensation was already fading. “Yeah, her mom was interested in me. I don’t know how much of this baby stuff I’m buying.”