Drake's LitRPG Megabundle (7 Books)

by Adam Drake

  +15% Resist Magic

  +15% Resist Disease

  +15% Resist Cold

  +10% Resist Fire

  +25% Resist Poison

  Value: 2,500 Gold Pieces

  This one I let Shwenn have as it was something she could use.

  Item: Ring of Freefall

  Durability: 45/45

  +3 Freefall

  Value: 850 Gold Pieces

  We diced for it and I won.

  Item: Crown of Thorns

  Required Level: 42

  Durability: 40/40

  +10 Armor

  +20 Hit Points

  Damage 25-35 to attacker when wearer is hit.

  Value: 1,200 Gold Pieces

  We diced and Shwenn won.

  Item: Breastplate of Defense

  Required Level: 44

  Required Strength: 45

  Required Agility: 35

  Durability: 60/60

  +25 Armor

  +145 Hit Points

  +1 Level to Dodge

  +1 Level to Parry

  Value: 5,200 Gold Pieces.

  Shwenn won the dice on that one.

  Item: Boots of Sneaking

  Thief Only

  Required Level: 45

  Required Agility: 42

  +8 Armor

  +25 Hit Points

  +1 Level to Sneak.

  100% Silence when walking.

  Value: 8,200 Gold Pieces

  Although I insisted on dice, Shwenn gave this to me outright, which I immediately wore.

  Item: Broadsword of Anguish

  Required Level: 42

  Required Strength: 50

  Required Agility: 35

  Durability: 50/50

  Damage: 225-345

  +45 Damage

  +5% Chance of Paralyzing opponent on hit for 20 seconds.

  +55 Hit Points

  +1 Level to Swords

  Value: 10,600 Gold Pieces

  We diced and Shwenn won again.

  The final item was interesting.

  Item: Gem Box of Many

  Required Level: 40

  Durability: 45/45

  When placed inside, will change a gem into another random variety of equal value and size. Cooldown 2 minutes.

  Value: 15,000 Gold Pieces

  Even at such a high value, this item could go for ten times that at the Marketplace. The box was a must-have for Jewelers.

  Drooling, we diced, and I won.

  Satisfied, we stashed our loot items away in our packs.

  “So, was this worth it?” I asked.

  “It never really is, is it?” Shwenn said. “I mean, when can you say you've ever been completely satisfied with a loot drop at the end of an instance?”

  But before I could answer, Shwenn suddenly looked over my shoulder and froze, eyes widening in fear.

  I instantly recognized that look and spun around, sword at the ready.

  A dark shape was moving down the tunnel from the distant entrance. For a few moments I could only stare, knowing what was coming. My eyes went to the party profiles at the edge of my vision and saw that Witt was dead. It must have just happened.

  “She got Witt,” Shwenn said, seeing the same. She stood beside me, wand in hand. “We need to be running now.”

  I shook my head. “Run where? She's blocking the only way out.”

  “What about that side tunnel?”

  “Right.”

  Then we were moving, racing down the tunnel toward the fast approaching serpent.

  As we ran, I could see the broken wall with the tunnel entrance up ahead. Sliding directly at us was Sisoria, her huge eyes glinting with the light of our orbs.

  I knew it was going to be close. “Hurry!” I shouted.

  “I am,” Shwenn said, racing along just behind me.

  It didn't look like the huge snake was going to slow down. Her intention was to crush us under her mighty weight.

  Right at the tunnel entrance I jumped toward it. The next moment I felt Sisoria zoom past me and her scaly side clipped my body. I was sent spinning like a top through the air and crashed inside the tunnel.

  Dazed, but still in a panic, I looked at the monster's body as it slid past the entrance. Blinking, I looked around. “Shwenn?”

  “Here!” She said, picking herself up out a darkened corner she'd been knocked into. “Bruised, but alive.”

  I staggered to my feet. Behind me I heard the loud sliding noise of Sisoria's belly on the stone floor. She was turning around.

  The small tunnel continued into blackness, but thankfully we still had Shwenn's light orbs with us.

  “We gotta move, girl!” I said.

  I stumbled forward, desperate to get distance between me and the nightmare at my back. The tunnel went straight into the unknown and I ran headlong into it, Shwenn close behind.

  After a few paces, a horrific crashing sound behind made me glance back. The great serpent had jammed its head into the entrance, but couldn't get any further. Having seen what it did chasing Witt, I knew it wouldn't be long before she squeezed her way through. I could only pray that whoever built this strange tomb made this tunnel narrower than all the others.

  Suddenly, the floor shook, and we pitched to the side, crashing into a wall. Sisoria squeezed her way in further, fracturing the floors and walls in her efforts to get to us.

  Full panic gripped at my chest. This thing was going to get us just like it did with Witt.

  Recovering from my fall, I pushed myself along the tunnel wall away from the monstrosity behind us. Ahead, I could see a bright chamber or room ahead, glowing red.

  Emerging from the tunnel we found ourselves at the edge of a long massive chasm. Below a wide river of lava roiled past. Across the way, directly opposite was another tunnel entrance. It looked as if a bridge had been here before, but had collapsed long ago.

  A hissing sound made me turn. The head of Sisoria appeared as she squeezed through the tunnel. Her soulless eyes locked onto us, tongue flickering.

  I looked to the other side, again. There was absolutely no way I could jump across, even if my Leap ability had been maxed out.

  But thanks to the Cloak of Shadows, I did have one card to play. “Hang onto me!” I said, pulling Shwenn into a hug.

  “A bad time for some fun, isn't it?” She said, eyes on the approaching serpent.

  “It's always a good time for fun,” I said. Focusing on the ledge of the far side I tried to set a Recall point.

  As I waited, I could feel Sisoria getting closer and closer. Part of me envisioned getting swallowed alive. Maybe my avatar wouldn't die right away, stuck in the creature's stomach. I shivered, needing to stay focused. All that mattered was the ledge on the other side.

  Behind me I heard stone and rock crashing and I knew Sisoria had arrived. She was opening her mouth, but I couldn't look. I heard Shwenn shout a warning.

  Recall Point Set.

  Bingo!

  I used my Teleport ability.

  The next instant we stood on the other ledge, the new tunnel entrance before us. A loud angry hiss turned me around.

  Back on the other ledge, Sisoria had launched herself out of the tunnel in a bid to swallow us up. But the beast didn't account for the precipitous drop. Her momentum carried her over the edge and she couldn't stop herself from falling. In seconds, the massive creature fell down and splashed into the huge river of molten lava.

  I watched in morbid fascination as she thrashed in the liquid rock. Then she sank below the surface and was carried away.

  Sighing with relief, I sat down. I could feel that the last few minutes had drenched the inside of my simulation suit with sweat and I waited for it to air out.

  “That was incredible!” Shwenn said clapping her hands and laughing. “That was the Cloak, right?”

  I nodded. “Pretty handy when it needs to be.”

  Shwenn looked into the new tunnel. “Shall we go on?”

  As if in response to this, the far tunnel
suddenly collapsed. The damage Sisoria had done to its structure had been too great.

  Stupid game, I thought and stood. The Shadow Blade hadn't been in the chest. I'd lost my opportunity to find it. There was little else for me to do but continue on and hope I found something worthwhile to make up for all my efforts here. And if I managed to get out, maybe I could return in a year's time to look again, but I shuddered at the thought.

  Depressed and defeated I turned my back to the molten grave of the serpent god and walked into the tunnel, Shwenn following.

  Barely a dozen paces in we came upon a set of stairs descending into darkness. We followed them down, weapons at the ready. It didn't take long to reach a tunnel at the bottom which led into a large square chamber.

  At its center sat a block of ivory colored stone. Sticking out of the top of the block, halfway to its hilt, was a sword.

  I caught me breath in surprise. Could this be it?

  “What?” Shwenn noticing my reaction. “What is it?”

  “The sword there, in the stone.”

  She looked around confused. “I don't see anything. Did you take a hit to the head?”

  I was momentarily baffled as to why she couldn't see the sword, then it hit me. It was for Shadows only. Part of its protection was being invisible to all but the class that could use it.

  “Trust me, it's there,” I said.

  Carefully, I walked up to the block, and a message appeared.

  Only one with an item of the Shadow Master Set can draw this blade. From the Shadows must come Light!

  I felt heady as if about to faint. I couldn't believe it. This was the Shadow Blade, hidden away in a secret tunnel beneath a volcano. Swallowing I gripped the pommel of the sword and pulled.

  It came free in my hands and the ivory block shattered into dust to fall into a pile.

  You have acquired an item: Shadow Blade (Legendary)

  (Shadow Class Only)

  (Level 40 required)

  (Agility 45 required)

  Durability: 60/60

  Damage: 200-245

  Bonuses:

  +40 Damage

  +30% Swing speed

  +100 Hit Points

  +5% Hit Point Regeneration

  +1 Swords Skill Level

  Shadow Master, Legendary Set Pieces: (2/4)

  Cloak of Shadows (set bonus +1 Sneak Skill Level)

  Shadow Blade (set bonus +1 Parry Skill Level)

  Boots of Shadow (set bonus - unknown)

  Shadow Guard (set bonus - unknown)

  Full Set bonus - unknown

  Finally! I turned the sword around in the light to get a better look at it. The pommel was bound with leather straps with a small curved hook at the base. The blade was long and narrow, its dark metal opaque as smoke.

  Sweet! I now had two of the four items of my set. But what now?

  Quest complete. 'Obtain the Shadow Blade'

  You have found the long lost weapon piece of the Shadow Master. Use it to lead the Light and banish the Darkness.

  Shwenn whistled. “Okay, I see it in your hands. Congratulations. Any chance you want to sell it and split the profits?”

  “Not in your life!” I said with a laugh.

  A small travel gate suddenly appeared in the wall beside us, its silver portal shimmering.

  Another message appeared.

  Where would you like to be transported?

  There was only one place that came to mind.

  “Fenwick's Folly,” I said. “I'm in need of a good butterscotch ale.”

  With Shwenn at my side and Shadow Blade in hand, I passed through the gate.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  We sat in Fenwick's Folly, drinking butterscotch ale and laughing. Having survived the Emerald Caldera, Shwenn was happy to the point of being giddy.

  “I swear I'll never take on a quest or go into another instance that has the slightest chance of having a snake in it,” she said, downing the last of her ale.

  “I can totally identify,” I said. “Only another Legendary item could make me tangle with that phobia, again.”

  The tavern was empty as usual. But Fenwick was content, standing behind the bar and smiling. With two patrons it was like the bar was full to him.

  Shwenn said, “I was wondering what happened to Nigel. Is he still cowering in that tunnel?”

  “Doubt it,” I said. “Either the natives got him or Sisoria did. But it doesn't matter, he's an NPC. Who's to say the instance is even there anymore without us in it?”

  “Huh,” Shwenn said. “Never thought of it that way. Sort of like that saying if a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear, does it still make a sound?”

  “If a player isn't present, does the NPC still render?” I said, and we both laughed.

  “Another ale, Miss Shwenn?” The barkeep asked.

  Shwenn waved her hands. “No, thanks, Fenwick. I'm good for now. Besides, I have to go and start offloading my loot onto the Marketplace. I think this broadsword will be the real money maker of the bunch.”

  “Good luck!” I said as she went out the door into the streets of Crow's Fall.

  “Yourself, Miss Valesh?” Fenwick asked, motioning to my mug.

  “Please,” I said and turned my attention to the points I'd gotten when I leveled earlier. There hadn't been any time to distribute them before.

  Name: Vivian Valesh

  Race: Human

  Class: Thief

  Subclass: Shadow

  Level: 47, 1% toward next level

  Hit Points: 1300, Mana: 120

  Attributes:

  Strength: 37

  Agility: 46

  Constitution: 40

  Wisdom: 15

  Intelligence: 15

  Charisma: 20

  You have 2 undistributed Attribute points.

  I placed one point into Strength and the other into Agility. The requirements for the Legendary items were high for both, and I didn't want to be caught short if and when I found the next one.

  Skills:

  Main Skills: (Level 3 or greater)

  Archery: Level 8, 82%

  Acrobatics: Level 3, 57%

  Climbing: Level 7, 22%

  Dodge: Level 7, 13%

  Parry: Level 6, 59%

  Sneak: Level 7, 45%

  Swords: Level 9, 74%

  Minor Skills: (Under level 3 - Select to view)

  You have 5 undistributed Skill points.

  I dumped all five points into my Acrobatics, the lowest of my main skills raising it to 70%.

  For my three ability points, I put one in Leap, bringing it to 4/10. Then I put the other 2 into Multi-shot raising it to 5/6. This granted me a fifth arrow when used as well as increasing the bonus damage to 20%.

  Satisfied, I downed my ale, then slid five gold coins over the bar. “Keep the change,” I said, as I stood.

  Fenwick beamed. “Please feel free to come back again, Miss Valesh. What will you do now?”

  I paused at the door and thought. There were still two other items to complete the Shadow Master set. I could try to find those. But I also had my overall damage output greatly boosted by the Shadow Blade. Maybe I should just go adventuring for a while and test it out. Or I could take on another Shadow for hire job from the forums.

  “I don't know, Fenwick,” I said. “Let's see what this game throws at me next!” And with that, I pushed my way through the tavern door and out into the streets. Maybe if I couldn't find any trouble on my own, trouble would find me.

  As it turned out, I didn't have to wait long at all.

  Vivian's adventure continues in

  Shadow Gate – Forthcoming

  Kingdom Level One

  A broken kingdom for a reluctant king.

  Robert was content with his life as a night-shift janitor. No stress, no worries, and no responsibilities. But this idyllic existence is turned upside down when he suddenly finds himself trapped inside a fantasy Role Playing Game.

  Confused and
alone he must find a way to escape back to his own world and, more importantly, to his daughter. But to do that he must take up the biggest responsibility of all:

  To rule a kingdom.

  PROLOGUE

  They had never seen structures more fantastic or colossal as the walls. From one horizon to the other, they stretched, perhaps so far as to encircle the world. No one knew for certain.

  Their height could not be calculated, vaulting well past the highest clouds and up to where only the Gods could go. Maybe even beyond.

  Their color was deep gray like a silt-filled pond and despite a steel-like surface, did not glint with the morning sun.