Chimera King Box Set Books 1-3

by Atlas Kane

The demon did not appear, but something happened nonetheless. A hissing crackle came from the air around him and the back of his head ached. What just happened? he thought, staring around him for some answer.

  No beast and no man stood in sight. The guards were already gone. It was when I tried to call on Pablo. That caused it.

  Despite being nervous of achieving the same result, Cade tried once more. He was desperate for some answers. “Pablo, I need to speak—”

  Cade’s voice faltered as another disruption in the air shook his senses. His head ached now, and he felt certain the summons had been blocked somehow.

  When he recovered from this second mental assault, he concluded that his only source of info was off limits for the time being.

  A pang of fear wove its way through his chest, but he pushed it down. Only clear thinking could help now. And beating himself up that he hadn’t pressed Ketzal for more information while he had the chance wouldn’t improve his situation.

  He could only hope that at some point he might access the demon once more.

  Looking back, he could see the glinting spires of the golden city. Vormer did say he’d been granted a quest, so trying to find out what kind it was would be a good next step. Cade had to figure out where he was going and what was required at the very least.

  He thought quest and was rewarded with a list of information on his UVS.

  Quest: Disturbance in the Waterfall District

  Difficulty: Unknown (This information has been intentionally withheld)

  Reward: Unknown (This information has been intentionally withheld)

  Description: Vormer has asked you to discover the source of the disturbance in the Waterfall District. Some creature has attacked some of the city guards who were collecting the herbs present in the area. Known for its diverse wildlife, the Waterfall District is a vital location. The city must have safe access in order to thrive.

  “Lots of unknowns there. That makes me feel very confident,” Cade grumbled. All he’d learned was that he needed to go to some Waterfall District and stop a mystery creature. “At least I have my boom stick. Still, a proper guide would have been appreciated.”

  Shaking his head, Cade brought up his map and examined the world he lived in for the first time.

  Antinium wasn’t some massive, sprawling series of continents, separated by turbulent oceans. It was a single mass of land covered in various environments. Cade’s map had more detail than he’d hoped for. Nothing would have been more disconcerting than confronting the classic blacked-out fantasy map where everything only filled in once you physically showed up to see it. The map labeled each terrain type precisely, and of course, the city was there too, occupying a good portion of Antinium’s Western region.

  To the north, the sprawling Borman Mountains rose, jutting up into the sky. Only rippling hills at first, but as they came to the edge of the landmass, the mountains were vast, a few snow-peaked and rocky. The detail Cade saw was breathtaking to behold, almost like looking at a high-definition view of the entire world zoomed out.

  Beyond the mountains, and wrapping the entire landmass of Antinium, was a hazy gray, almost like what he’d seen while speaking with the sophisticated Pablo. It was labeled Oblivion Mist. Well if that isn’t pure nightmare fuel, Cade chuckled to himself. I’ll sleep well tonight.

  Directly north of the city, and below the hills of the mountains, a plain of grasslands lay, lime green and vibrant. To the southwest of Tanrial, strange blocks of stone scattered across the map, and the words Dolnathi Ruins.

  “Let me guess, ancient powers and seriously badass monsters live there,” Cade grumbled. Any time ruins were a part of a fantasy setting, it meant high-level areas.

  The city itself was labeled Tanrial, and directly to the south, a shorter mountain range, the Toth Mountains, stood between the center of Antinium proper and the Hastoor Desert, a wide expanse of sand to the south. He would avoid that area too until he had the equipment to handle such an environment. The sun here in Antinium was very near tropical in its intensity, and he doubted the desert would be any less forgiving.

  He needed a shirt.

  Finally, he saw himself, a tiny marker standing between the city of Tanrial and the border of the Niyan Jungle.

  The jungle itself made up a vast portion of the entire map, running all the way until it hit the eastern wall of Oblivion Mist. Between the jungle and the grassland, just south of the Borman Mountains, a huge lake rested. At his current position, it was almost due north.

  Several streams drifted away from the huge lake, snaking south together into the relatively small Waterfall District. It wasn’t far. If what Ketzal had told him was true, that Antinium could be traversed in a week or so, then his destination was perhaps a few hours away, a handful of miles at most.

  The area had a black blip in its center, with the quest marker Disturbance in the Waterfall District hovering above.

  At least it beats grid squares, he mused, pushing the image of the map away with a thought.

  In the service, he’d risen to the rank of E-4 Specialist. What he had found was that training was insanely subjective. Cade knew more about the guts and glory of a machine gun than almost any serviceman he met. He still had dreams about cleaning the bolt endlessly, or his least favorite, the nightmare where every time he tried to reload another belt of ammo, the links would fall apart and clink to the ground.

  He called those equipment nightmares, and though they sounded silly, he would wake in a sweat. Nothing worse than your gun failing when you needed it most.

  But reading a map and the priceless art of land navigation simply hadn’t been something his unit had trained him on much. A few tiresome and highly confusing days in Basic Training certainly didn’t help. It was near impossible to teach a group of young idiots something so complex with only a few Drill Sergeants though. And after he’d arrived at Ft. Lewis, they had a single outing where he walked around, counting paces and being as patient as possible as his squad leader tried to show him the ropes.

  It was on that field exercise that he almost got it. But orders came down through Battalion and all training shifted. Traditional land nav was useless when driving around in Iraq with the guidance of a GPS and satellite imagery.

  Instead, they’d focused on hundreds of hours at the range. Though Cade was no sniper, he could still drop two rounds in a man’s chest from twenty feet away while jogging. Speed shooting was addictive and fun. Aiming was instinctual and reactive. And though his new blast axe was just different to hold, Cade knew he’d be able to effectively use it at close quarters.

  Thankfully, this new map system was about as easy and intuitive as anything he could imagine. If he got lost in Antinium, it sure as hell would be his fault.

  So without any other course of action, Cade began his quest, unaided and uninformed.

  Adjusting his path somewhat, Cade headed off into the jungle. The Niyan Jungle, he reminded himself, trying to stay positive. His efforts were only minimally thwarted when he stepped into a cold, wet pile of what had to be shit. At least it’s cold, Cade thought bitterly. Means whatever huge fucking monster did this isn’t so close by.

  He scraped his feet in a patch of grass then kept going, keeping an eye on the ground as much as on the jungle around him.

  Beyond the grass lay the first trees and shrubs of the jungle Vormer described. Cade didn’t need some high-tech map to tell him his destination was that way.

  He’d only been walking for half an hour when he realized his lack of food and water were his biggest concerns. So this was Vormer’s plan, have me “escorted” into the jungle to die of dehydration or starvation. Why didn’t he just kill me outright?

  His stomach growled like a rabid beast, and he remembered his Lycan Metabolism’s side effect of needing extra food. That was going to be a problem. Then again, he was heading into a jungle. Who knew what kind of food there might be?

  As he strolled along, Cade scanned the plants he encountered. Most weren�
��t what he would consider edible.

  Fibrous Ferns

  Resource Flora

  Crafting Material

  Tar Flower Bushes

  Resource Flora

  Alchemical Reagent

  Hyacinth Bamboo

  Resource Flora

  Crafting Material

  A half dozen other species marked vaguely as Medicinal Herb showed the great variety of potential here, but he didn’t know if he could eat, grind, or smoke them. None were labeled as sources of food though. He would need to hope that something more obvious would be in his path, or that a helpful guide might take pity on him.

  The further he got into the forest, though, the more unlikely that seemed. He couldn’t see a soul in the tangle of limb and leaf, and soon, he found himself walking below a triple-canopied jungle, engulfed by sprawling trees, hanging vines, and plants of every shape and color.

  A few odd-looking monkeys skittered away from him as he approached, too small to be considered a threat. Insects buzzed everywhere. Nothing would be worse than getting stung by some unknown bug and dying on his first romp into the forest. Boots were at the top of his list of items to procure. His pink feet were far too vulnerable for this abuse, but he did notice they were holding up far better than he’d have guessed. Got to love jacking up your Constitution.

  At last, he came to a stream, and though every survival instinct in him screamed not to drink it, he did anyway. The humidity and heat of the day had sapped his body of moisture, and the water was cool and crystal clear. Besides, this was a fantasy world. He just hoped it didn’t have fantasy giardia.

  As he stooped to drink, Cade spotted a flicker of movement below the surface. Warily, he moved his head to the side, avoiding the reflection. Then he spotted it, a long fish with a black spine and stripes running up its side. Holy shit! Thing looks like a largemouth bass! A fishing pole would be a nice tool to have, but right now, he only had an axe and the hair between his butt cheeks. The pool was not very big. Cade drank his fill, hovering over the water. He watched the fish as it moved below.

  He felt stupid trying, but his Dexterity could match a martial artist’s at this point, so he didn’t figure it would hurt testing his abilities. After the fish calmed, its tail flicking at a slower pace, Cade shot his hand into the water. The slimy texture of fish scales brushed his fingers, but he came back empty-handed. He searched in the water for the form of the fish again, but had trouble spotting it. It had been an interesting experiment, but waiting for the water to clear of the debris he’d stirred up wasn’t appealing.

  Cade leapt the stream, marveling at how far he could jump.

  His body felt amazing, lithe, capable, like a spring waiting to explode at any given moment. Yet not having proper clothes or armor, and being deployed on a mission that would most likely entail danger, was as appealing as a handful of shit. Upgrades were needed.

  Another rumble of fear-inducing hunger erupted from his gut, and when Cade looked down at his belly, he could swear it looked leaner than before. Great, only a couple hours in and I’m eating myself alive. Need some food and need it now.

  Cade continued his hike, noting how much closer he was to the Waterfall District. He shifted his focus to the plant life. His progress slowed to a veritable crawl, but his priority was food. A dead Cade wasn’t a very productive Cade, after all.

  Continually, he inspected plants with dubious-ass names and decided against sampling them. After another half hour of such searching, he saw the most glorious thing in all his very short life here on Antinium. The dangling mass of a Morine Pear Plant, its vines loaded down with dozens of the green fruits.

  “By the sweet and yielding bosom of Ketzal, I will eat you all,” Cade declared, a finger pointing in declaration at his intended target.

  Accepting how much he’d changed in the short time he’d been in Last World was trying in a way. His Attributes reflected that of a man he’d never been before. His body performed in ways Cade had only dreamed of, and his mind processed things differently. Not only was the fog of depression and iffy health lifted completely, leaving him with a more pristine view of the world.

  It felt like a fresh start, something he didn’t entirely feel deserving of.

  Still, the pears practically begged to be taken down. How dare they look so delicious and not expect for a Lycan-infused Chimera man to destroy them utterly?

  The only tricky part was that the vines were a dozen feet off the ground. Not at all perturbed, Cade found a nearby tree and decided to give climbing a try. Dexterity was a miraculous Attribute, and he reveled in the aptitude of his body as he shimmied up the tree. He kept climbing until he was directly above the plant, its vine growing from a vast web of roots leeching into the tree itself. It was a parasitic plant then.

  He pulled his axe free from his leather belt and cut the pears down. The whole mass fell in a heap to the jungle floor. Success!

  Feeling confident, Cade dropped the fifteen feet down, landing gracefully, but turning his ankle on an unseen root.

  He rolled onto his back, sweat blooming from his skin. The familiar pain of a sprained ankle combined with his intense hunger made his head swoon, bile rising in his throat. You are a creature of surprisingly little intellect, Caderick. You deserve this, and you know it.

  After rocking around on the ground awhile, he felt the swooning nausea of the injury begin to fade. Nothing like a sprained ankle to make him feel like vomiting and shitting at the same time. Inflicted with weak ankles, it was a sensation Cade had experienced over a dozen times when playing basketball in his youth. If he had combat boots, the thick leather would have prevented the worst of it.

  Roused by his hunger, he sat up and limped over to find the fruit. Plucking off one of the green pears, he took a bite, juice bursting out and down his chin. It was heaven. More bitter and complex than the pure sweet of an Earth pear, the Morine was infinitely more delicious.

  Cade sat down on his ass and ate ten in a row without stopping. His stomach was tight, and he was covered in sticky juice by the end of it.

  Finally, the faint-headedness of near starvation abated, Cade slung the few vines that still had pears over his shoulder and continued on his journey. And to his surprise, as he took his first step, the pain was greatly diminished. Score one for health regeneration! Cade thought cheerfully and picked up his pace.

  It wasn’t more than an hour later when the vegetation broke apart, and the distinct sound of rushing water caught his ear. Cade didn’t need to pull up his map to confirm he’d made it to the Waterfall District, he could see them crashing down in all their glory for himself. The land became muddy in areas, and Cade was forced to leap across murky puddles and between rivulets that ran off through the forest. A vast and churning river swept through the clearing that led up to the waterfalls. It was so swift and violent in its descent that Cade had to search, walking ever upstream, for a place to cross.

  Finding an ancient and mostly sturdy log lying across the stream, he walked over the raging water. He stopped halfway over and peered into the water. White caps obscured his view, but a few patches of water were clear enough to allow him to see within the river. Dark shapes moved below, fish or eels perhaps - or at least he hoped. In a river this deep, any manner of creature could survive.

  The thought of crocodiles or piranha-like fish kept him moving over the rest of the log. On the other side, Cade found a trail descending into a lower portion of the glade, ferns bunching up along the path to either side.

  He wove between them, eyes scanning around him, conscious he’d arrived at the quest marker. Somewhere nearby was a beast who’d been causing trouble. Was it a leopard, a big-ass lizard, some kind of wolf? Well, it would be lovely to know, but Cade only had a vague quest description to go off.

  The sound of the waterfalls abated, and he heard instead the steady trickling of a nearby rivulet, coursing down the side of an embankment. The water shone in the sunlight, still ridiculously bright for how long he’d been
in this world and tromping around.

  What had Vormer said about the length of days here? When he was finished with this quest, the first thing he’d do was ask Pablo to answer that very question.

  A rustling behind Cade was the only warning he got before a lancing pain tore down his back. “Ah!” Cade bellowed, whipping around to see a tiny beast more fierce than a step-mom on a shopping spree. What in this prehistoric playground is that? He stared into three amber eyes ogling him from the tiny head of a monkey.

  Inspecting it, Cade learned the name of his opponent.

  Razor-clawed Marin

  Level 3

  Predator Fauna

  If it wasn’t for the scorching pain in his back and the blood dripping down his legs, he would have thought the creature adorable. It looked like a fuzzy gremlin, but for a third eye bulging above the normal two. All were bunched up rather too closely in its forehead. Tufts of hair jutted out from the sides of its head.

  It leapt out at him, hissing, lashing out with one of its incredibly long arms. The beast’s claws were aptly named, slicing through his forearm as he blocked the attack. Blood trickled down his arm, the pain enraging the man. “You little shit stain!” he shouted, and whipped his axe around.

  The blade cut through the marin’s chest easily. It fell away, screeching, raging at its own death for all to hear. Good riddance, he thought, rubbing the cuts in his arm.

  He sighed, glancing down at the pathetically small body, and a twinge of guilt blossomed in his chest. Hard to feel like a badass when killing baby monkeys. Still, Cade argued with himself, he started it. The immature thought didn’t make Cade feel any better, but then a question entered his mind, distracting him from the current situation. Can I loot this thing?

  If it were a game, he could click on the marin and a helpful pop-up window would let him know how many Small Monster Bones or Sharp Monkey Teeth he could grab. He bent down, hoping to inspect the creature closer, when a trilling growl sounded behind him.