Watcher’s Fate: A LitRPG Saga (Life in Exile Book 3)

by Sean Oswald

  Without stopping, the elf pulled out a small black velvet bag with a drawstring and silver runes etched into the material. Inside it, there were three rings, a bracelet, a thin book, a pair of gloves, and a wand.

  “So let me start with the simple items. First, this ring is a simple health ring. Lady Emiri had informed the Throne about the kidnapping of young Sara, and so as a mother, this ring seemed appropriate for her.”

  Nanny Ring

  Quality: Excellent

  Weight: 0.1

  Passive Effect: +150 health.

  Passive Effect: This ring is absorbed into the body of the person wearing it so long as that person is a minor under the age of thirty. It will be invisible and undetectable by up to Tier 3 Divination magic but still counts as the only magic ring allowed on that hand.

  Active Effect: Whenever the bearer of this ring feels afraid for their life or is in mortal danger without their being aware, their location will be continuously known to their mother.

  The description of the ring made Emily laugh, and Dave had to agree it was perfect. It would provide both extra health and a way to not lose Sara. Dave did beat himself up, though, that he would ever have to be worried about losing one of his children.

  “The next item is another ring. It is not overwhelmingly powerful but has the potential to be useful in many situations.

  Lesser Earth Ring

  Quality: Excellent

  Weight: 0.1

  Active Effect 1: 1/moonrise - Wearer may camouflage against any stone or earthen surface for up to 30 minutes

  Active Effect 2: 1/moonrise- Wearer’s skin takes on the toughness of stone and gains DR: 50 for 1 tick.

  * * *

  Passive Effect: Increases wearer’s Stamina pool by 50% and Stamina regeneration rate by 100%

  Dave said, “I think this should go to Jackson. It will provide him with a way to hide and will help with his Stamina use.”

  Emily simply nodded as she still wasn’t ready to think overly much about why Jackson needed to hide.

  “The final ring is also one which may not at first seem to have very much use, but Saisho Yua suggested that Master Daichi might be able to point out some uses for it.”

  Daichi chimed in, “Yes, from what I understand, you have increased your unarmed combat skill quite a bit, so perhaps this winter once we are snowed in, I can help you practice.”

  Ring of Streamlined Movement

  Quality: Excellent

  Weight: 0.1

  Passive Effect: Causes the wearer’s movements to become more refined with less wasted motion and energy. Effectiveness scales with the degree to which the wearer already controls their body.

  Dave looked at the small copper ring with a green stone set in it. It wasn’t much to look at, but to his mind, it was rife with possibilities. All too often in combat one would overextend on a strike, or move a block along an inefficient path, or even waste motion moving up with a forward motion instead of all the energy being directed in one path. In many ways just like the other ring, this seemed custom-made for Jackson, who had been offered a monk class. The problem was that if he wore both these new rings, he wouldn’t be able to wear any health rings, which were also essential, given the kind of beatings he had been taking.

  “That is a generous offer, especially since I doubt you have ever had a human student, and I likely will take you up on it, but for now, let’s focus on the other items.”

  “Very well, Baron Murkwood,” the elven monk said with a slight bow of his head.

  Just as Dave was about to put the ring back down on the table, he noticed an inscription in the middle of the ring. “More is not always more”

  The next item was a rose-colored crystal bracelet with a band of gold wrapped around it. It almost looked too fragile, but upon hearing its description from Fumihero, both Dave and Emily agreed that it would go to Mira.

  Bracelet of Spell Penetration Quality: High Weight: 0.3

  * * *

  Passive Effect: Causes any spell which is cast through the arm wearing this bracelet to penetrate 10 points of DR and to be 10% harder to resist.

  “Besides the bag, I was also instructed to advise you that Saisho Yua requested that you take this next item for yourself. The Consort gave the Throne a description of your entire family’s abilities, and it seems that you find yourself short in offense capabilities. He did mention that you had recently obtained a wand of fireballs, so that gives you some AoE damage power, but she felt that you should also have an item that could deal heavy damage to a single target. So this wand packs a Tier 4 evocation spell,” Fumihero explained.

  “Oh, and one other thing, I was advised that both this wand and the spatial bag are epic items, so one of them is the extra reward from your quest,” he added.

  “It is amazing. May I hold?” Emily asked.

  “Of course, Lady Emiri. I apologize for not being quicker,” Fumihero said with a bow as he handed the slender wand over to her.

  To Dave’s eyes, it looked like an eight-inch long grayish black chopstick, but he could just barely make out the intricate carvings in its surface.

  Wand of Shadow Spears (Tier 4)

  Quality: Epic

  Weight: .02

  Active Effect: 3/moonrise - Projects a spear of pure shadow drawn from the essence of Moon Elves of yore.

  Piercing Damage: 120-360 and Necrotic Damage: 120-360

  Range: 300’

  Cool-Down: 30 Minutes

  Limitation: May only be used by a moon elf. Other races will take 120 necrotic damage every time they use it. Sun elves take 240 necrotic damage if they attempt to use it.

  Dave’s head was spinning since this was definitely the most direct damage from an item. While it didn’t gain extra damage from Intelligence like a cast spell would, it could still theoretically hit for up to 720 damage. It was also the first item that had a racial restriction on it. He wasn’t sure how Emily would feel about using a weapon with necrotic damage, but he figured they could talk about that later. Right now he wanted to check out the 3 remaining objects.

  “Baron Murkwood, the next item is a bonus item offered to you specifically as a reward for what you did to help against the goblins. This should help you enhance your magic, but it will take some time.”

  Tome of Mystical Enhancement

  Quality: Mythic

  Weight: 2.0

  * * *

  Active Effect: 1/moonrise Study item for 1 hour uninterrupted every night while the moon is in the sky until mastery is obtained. Timing of the effect is based upon the moon on Eloria Prime and not affected by time distortion effects.

  Once 100% mastery of text is achieved, the user will receive unknown rewards ranging from improvements in a specific magical school, boosts to mana, spell use, or other unknown possibilities. Diligence and intention are critical. The tome will be randomly translocated after use or failure to a random location, most likely a dungeon.

  Eloria is conflict, and the path of personal improvement is its own conflict.

  “As much as I want this, it is too valuable. A mythic item is beyond anything that your rulers owe me,” Dave said as he reluctantly laid the book back down on the table.

  “Saisho Yua thought you would say as much and bade me tell you that the unpredictable nature of the tome greatly diminishes its value. She hopes that you will have the necessary focus and drive to make use of the item. The same applies to the other two items. They are both potentially powerful tools but require either great focus or sacrifice from the user,” Fumihero said.

  “Oh, so you are hoisting your junk off on us?” Dave asked with a laugh.

  Emily slapped his arm. “Don’t say things like that.”

  “I’m just playing around, sorry Fumihero. I didn’t mean any offense. So can I look at the other items?”

  The druid handed him over the small velvet bag and said, “Be careful,” while projecting the item’s description.

  Portable Hole

  Quality:
Excellent

  Weight: Variable

  * * *

  Active Effect: When spread flat against any surface, the item creates a nine-inch diameter hole in any non-organic object up to thirty feet thick. The hole can last up to 10 minutes minus 15 seconds per foot of thickness. There is a minor risk of the item activating prematurely anytime it is taken out of the containment bag.

  The final object was a set of gloves. Upon closer examination, the material was cut off above the middle knuckles on each finger. The portion covering the back of the hands was thicker than the leather material which made up the rest of the gloves. Where each of the top knuckles was, a small socket of silver metal was sewn into the gloves. The top of the gloves went up far enough to cover the wrist.

  Piersung’s Ringed Fighting Gloves

  Quality: Mythic

  Weight: 1.0/glove

  * * *

  Restriction: Reduces XP earned by undetermined value.

  Current Item Tier: 1 XP: 0/1920

  * * *

  Passive Effect 1: +4 added to base damage for blows made with the wearer’s hands. (Effect improves with Tier increases)

  * * *

  Passive Effect 2: Wearer may equip 1 extra ring per Tier (2 extra rings at Tier 7)

  * * *

  Set Piece: 1 of 4

  Bonuses: revealed when 2 or more pieces are gained. (Vest, Boots, Belt)

  * * *

  Piersung was a champion of the Imperial Tournament seven times and the creator of the Way of Thought martial arts style. In his later years, he became obsessed with creating the perfect fighting gear and turned his attention to enchanting. A portion of himself was imbued into the gear with unpredictable results.

  “While you made it clear that your desire is to increase your magical prowess, the Throne also thought that these might be useful to you. That is if you don’t mind the XP penalty. Well that and none of the moon elves have been willing to wear it because of the way that the description says it is imbued with a portion of its creator. My people tend to be very respectful of the ancestors,” Fumihero said.

  “I actually think that it will be a better fit for our son, Jackson,” Dave said. Then he turned towards the others behind the table. “Tomorrow, Emily and I are going to lead another attempt at the dungeon. We need to pick the best three to go with us who will round out our party.”

  Rak’kar, Daichi, Jaselm, and even Fumihero all spoke up, or in Jaselm’s case, tried to speak up as his acid scarred lungs still made breathing difficult. Daichi was the one who thought to ask the most obvious question. “Three? Why only three? Don’t get me wrong, I am glad that you are both taking your commitment to the people here seriously, but that doesn’t mean that you should go in with less than a full party.”

  “We will have a full party. Our son Jackson is going with us,” Dave said.

  Daichi objected. “Lady Emiri, you must not do this thing. Your son is undoubtedly brave as his parents are, but you saw what that dungeon was like. We were barely able to make it out. Even with these new trinkets, this will be a very dangerous dive.”

  “I respect your opinion as the head of my Meiyo Eihei, but there are things you don’t know about, and it is absolutely necessary that Jackson goes. We only have one more day with him.”

  After bowing deeply, Daichi said, “You are correct. I don’t understand what you are doing, but if you are decided, then it is my task to keep you as safe as possible. In my estimation, the best team to make sure that you, your husband, and son all come out safely is myself, Rak’kar, and Eisuke.”

  Jaselm tried to sound a protest. The monk responded, “I mean no disrespect to you, Sir Jaselm, for I have come to respect you, but in your current condition, you would be a liability rather than an asset.”

  Emily tried to sooth Jaselm by saying, “I had meant to save this for tomorrow, but Mira and I think we may have come up with a way to heal you, Jaselm. I regret, though, that we will not be able to try it until after we return from the dungeon.”

  Steffen spoke up at that time. “I can say for my part that I would also very much like to see this dungeon. From what I have heard, it could even be a Tier 3 dungeon, and I expect that our three guests from the adventurers guild will expect to be allowed to enter the dungeon.”

  “I don’t really care what they expect. There are only so many slots,” Dave responded.

  “Don’t discount them so quickly, Baron Murkwood. They will pay you a fee for admission and a tithe on whatever they gain within. The taxes on not just one but two dungeons could bring a considerable amount of revenue into your coffers,” Baron Eikhorn said.

  Gunidar chose that moment to finally speak up after sitting there silently the entirety of the evening. “There is another complication. As a representative of the king on all things magical, I must insist on going into the dungeon.”

  Steffen chuckled. “And I suppose that possibility of finding a Tier 3 dungeon doesn’t have anything to do with it either.” His words were met by a look from the royal mage that could almost have flayed his skin.

  “There is one other possibility. Since the dungeon hasn’t been truly graded, it is possible that a raid party could be formed,” Gunidar responded.

  “And how can we ‘grade’ the dungeon?” Dave asked, genuinely curious.

  “The representatives from the Adventurers guild were undoubtedly here to do that, amongst other things. They will be able to explain better what the possibilities are. But what I can tell you is that there are many ways that a dungeon can be formed and tackled. There are instanced dungeons, dungeons with required quests to complete like your mine dungeon, dungeons with a cap on how many can enter, solo dungeons, and raid dungeons. It may even be possible that some dungeons can have different modes, but I will defer to the guild experts.”

  Dave was as impressed by Gunidar’s willingness to defer to anyone on any issue as much as he was by the possibilities.

  “Well then, we will meet with them tomorrow morning. Sir Morganthal and Ozaki, I know it is getting late, but please arrange for a mixed group of thirty swordsmen and archers to go with us tomorrow. Eisuke, please ensure that at least two druids and two forest wardens including yourself go with us.”

  Dave then turned and, with a crafty glint in his eyes, said, “Baron Eikhorn would you see to it that word about our impending dungeon dive reaches the ears of the adventurers. If they are trying to earn a spot in our little expedition, then they will be more willing to give up concessions, and I want to get the best rate from them. If you know anything about what the king charges for access to the dungeon outside of Konig, I’d appreciate knowing about it.”

  Everyone responded and added in their own ideas. Now that they were getting serious about dungeon diving, there was a great deal of excitement in response to Dave’s contagious energy.

  Dave and Emily walked home shadowed by guards and explained to the Jackson and Mira what was going to happen the next day. Once they went to bed and Dave verified that the two guards were keeping watch outside, he came into his bedroom to find Emily already under the blankets. He was tired. It had been a physically long day filled with fighting to power level Jackson and emotion from all the meetings. Yet, he still wanted to try his next idea for finishing his class quest. In fact, he was staring off so distant and distracted that he didn’t realize at first that Emily was trying to cuddle up against him and was slowly rubbing her hand along his arm.

  “How obvious do I have to be?” Emily said in a low voice.

  Startled out of his thoughts, Dave finally got half a clue and leaned in to kiss his wife.

  “I need to be held. Today was very emotional.”

  Dave wanted to work on the quest, but the look of need from his wife stirred him at so many levels. What the heck, class quests can wait for tomorrow.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  “We are all crazy. It’s how you use the crazy that makes you who you are.” — Naat’ha Aremay, Captain of Miromar’s famed Golden Griff
on Squad.

  Eris’ Rise - Dave Nelson

  Dave woke up wrapped in the blankets and with Emily sprawled over him. He couldn’t help but notice that he must have been drooling in his sleep. So cool. But at least no one saw him like this. Might wreck the hard-nosed image he was starting to build.

  Either way, now he wasn’t going to be able to do all the preparations that he had planned on before the dungeon dive. He estimated that he had maybe three hours before the first sun came up. With only three hours left, the decision was an easy one. The Tome of Mystical Enhancement would have to wait. He was going to use the time to learn a Tier 3 Shaping spell. Dave even had the perfect spell in mind. He just needed to break out the spell book.

  He carefully disentangled himself then climbed out of bed. He tried to walk quietly, but the wood floor seemed to creak with every movement he made. After reaching his gear, he dug out the advanced primer spell book and briefly leafed through it. There were still five spells in it that were Tier 3: Mage’s Mantle, Line of Sight Teleportation, Discern Hidden Desires, Paralyze, and Mass Lesser Enlarge. Only one of the spells would fit his need, but it was perfect because it was practically an upgraded version of his favorite spell, Minor Enlarge.

  Before attempting to learn the spell, he needed to increase his Shaping Magic. He had plenty of character points, so he quickly dropped in the maximum of 20 points and raised his Shaping Magic up to 40. Then burying his head in the book, he began to study the spell.