Drake's LitRPG Megabundle (7 Books)

by Adam Drake

  “And the question was?” Rob said in almost a whisper.

  Fumi leaned forward, trying to capture the Sage within her cyclopean gaze. “Where, in the Many Hells, is LIVIO?!”

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  “But, Fumi,” Saif said, peeking around Rob, “I've already explained to you I don't know what happened to him.”

  Fumi shook her head. “Yes, you do, Sage. Don't tell me any different. I saw him leave here and go to the cliffs to find you. Next thing I know you arrive in camp without him and playing dumb.”

  “I didn't see him,” Saif said. “By the gods, I swear it!”

  Fumi's one eye widened in anger and she raised the axe. “Don't lie to me anymore, Sage. We may be all that's left of the kingdom, but I think we'd survive longer without you and your conniving ways.”

  Saif said, “Maybe he vanished like all the others we can't find. He left the camp and vanished before he could find me. That explains it.”

  Rob felt compelled to speak, even if it meant bodily harm. “If I may ask, who is Livio?”

  Fumi's eye locked onto Rob. “Who is Livio? What business is that of yours? I haven't seen you before. Where did you come from?” She glared at Saif, “Where did this little man come from?”

  Rob decided to speak for himself. “I'm Rob,” he said. “The new king.”

  Fumi's expression went from anger to confusion – a terrifying process to witness. “New king? Saif, is this true? Don't lie to me!”

  “It's true, Fumi,” Saif said. “He arrived just now, on the beach. He came from the island.”

  This appeared to mollify the giant woman. She took a step back, lowering the axe. With her one eye she looked Rob up and down, unimpressed. “This can't be our king. He barely looks fit to sweep the rushes from the floor of the stable.”

  Rob suddenly burst out laughing. Both Fumi and Saif stared at him in bafflement.

  “Sorry,” Rob said, after calming down a little. “But you have no idea how astute that statement is.”

  “Fumi,” Saif said. “I know you don't believe me, and that you don't trust me.”

  “By the gods above and below, I don't!”

  “But it's true. Look at him. Really look at him.”

  She did as he said, shifting her gaze over Rob.

  Rob felt uneasy being scrutinized, but waited patiently. Then he realized what she was doing.

  She's looking at my stats, he thought.

  “King,” Fumi said, almost calmly. She looked him in the eye. “You are the new king. Well, you don't look like much. I doubt you could hold your own against a beach fairy, let alone lead a kingdom.”

  “He killed a crab,” Saif said from behind Rob.

  Fumi scoffed. She looked to be deciding what to yell about next.

  Rob needed to act, or risk completely losing what little respect she had for him, if there was any at all.

  “As your king it falls to me to help with the kingdom's problems. Do you agree with that?” Rob said.

  “Perhaps,” Fumi said.

  “And this missing Livio is a problem. I'll make it my duty to find out what happened to him. Would you at least let me do that for you?”

  Fumi stared at him for several long moments.

  Unable to read the woman, Rob feared he was about to be cleaved in two.

  Then she blinked. “Okay, fine. Since Saif is unable to come up with an answer, then you do it. Find out what happened to him. But do it quick! I've run out of patience with this silver haired devil.”

  She whirled about and marched back in her tent.

  Certain she wouldn't return, both Rob and Saif let out a sigh.

  “Wow,” Rob said. “Who was that delicate little flower?” If she was one of his subjects, he was in for a lot of headaches.

  “She's the cook,” Saif said, finally stepping out from Rob's shadow and straightening his spine. “Not someone to be trifled with at all.”

  You don't have to tell me, Rob thought. Maybe she could become a champion of the kingdom. Slap some armor on her, give her a bigger axe and he could conquer a dozen kingdoms by morning.

  Saif shook his head in frustration. “I can't blame her for being angry. We all are. People have been vanishing ever since the walls arrived. And most of those folks couldn't have been caught behind a wall, either, as most were nowhere near the borders.”

  “They're simply gone?”

  The Sage nodded. “Yes, here one day, gone the next. It happens at night, usually, but I can't be sure. It's hard to look for clues when there is no one left to talk to. You could ask the neighbors, what happened to George? But if the neighbors are gone, too, what's to be done?”

  Rob sensed another quest coming, and he gritted his teeth.

  Saif looked to him. “Might you be able to help us, my Lord? Can you try to discover the mystery behind your missing subjects?”

  You have been offered a quest.

  And there it was.

  'Gone But Not Forgotten'

  The people of the kingdom have been vanishing under mysterious circumstances. Find out what has happened to them and put an end to this terror.

  Reward: Unknown.

  Accept or Decline?

  Rob accepted it, swiping the words away. That was another quest to add to his list, all of which had an unknown reward for completing them. What did that mean?

  Saif smiled, although not as widely as before. He was still feeling the aftereffects of Fumi's wrath. “Very good, my Lord. I do hope you can find out what has happened to them because if you don't then I'm afraid you may end up without any subjects to rule over.”

  No pressure there. Rob was remiss he hadn't received any of those newbie quests Todd reviled when starting a new character. Kill ten rats, get some gold. Kill ten more rats, wash and repeat. Why couldn't he get some of those? Instead, he's being thrown these ambiguous ones without any defined rewards.

  Maybe the gods were messing with him.

  “My Lord,” Saif said, “I think you have had a long day. Would you like to retire to your manor for a little rest?”

  “I have a manor?” he said, eyeing the little huts with dread.

  “Yes, my Lord, it's just up ahead, around the bend.”

  “But what about the tour of the kingdom, and all my Royal Holdings?”

  Saif blinked in confusion. “My Lord, this is everything you own.” He waved his hands at the squalid camp.

  Rob blanched. “This is it?”

  “I'm afraid so.”

  “What about those buildings over there?” Several small huts dotted the side of a dirt road which went south from the camp.

  “Abandoned, my Lord. Or more exactly, the people who lived in them have vanished.”

  “So this is it?” Rob didn't know what to think of this. Relief or disappointment?

  “You do have your hill,” Saif said, turning to look at it.

  It was a grassy hill, not unlike the other's they'd passed. Its tall grass rippled in the wind. Rob tried to imagine a castle sitting on it, but couldn't muster the mental energy.

  Perhaps sensing Rob's disappointment Saif offered a tight smile, then waved a hand to the pathway that led around the hill. “To your manor, my Lord?”

  With a nod, Rob followed Saif, his mind a jumble of quests and confusion. Where was his castle and soldiers? His empire? How was he going to find his way back home if this was his starting point? In fact, it was less than a starting point. It was a muddy dump with four people in it, at the bottom of a hill.

  It felt more like a punishment than a kingdom.

  They stopped in front of a small house perched on the foot of the hill. It was a little bigger than the others he'd seen and even had windows and a door. The roof was made of some kind of peat-moss, and its walls of mud-brick. A crooked chimney stuck out of the roof at one end, tilted at an alarming angle.

  “Your manor, sire,” Saif said with another flourishing wave. He actually looked proud.

  “It looks...” Like a tool shed? “It
looks great,” Rob said. He pointed at a sad little building off to one side that smelled faintly of urine. “Is that the outhouse?”

  “Those are my quarters, my Lord,” Saif said without a hint of disdain. “As Sage, it is my duty to be close by in case you need me.”

  Oookay, Rob thought and opened the little door. He had to duck to enter, almost folding himself in half.

  The interior was not even as close to stark as the exterior.

  A fireplace was set into the wall at one end. A bed was in one corner, with blankets and pillow. There were a couple of chairs at a tiny table, and what looked to be a writing desk. A huge throw-rug covered the cold pact ground which served as the floor. There was even a small bookcase next to the desk with a couple of volumes within.

  But what really grabbed Rob's attention was the huge beige tapestry that covered the end wall, opposite the fireplace. It was completely empty of detail, nothing was stitched into it, no pictures or murals or designs.

  Rob walked over to examine it, perplexed. “Why is there a big empty tapestry here?” There was something about it that felt... different.

  “I was hoping we would get to that later, but I don't think it would hurt to give you a quick overview of the world map.”

  Rob looked at the tapestry again, his brow furrowed. “Map? But there's nothing on it. It's a map of nothing?” The memory of floating through the infinite void flashed in his mind and was gone.

  “It is a map, my Lord, and at one time it was filled with all the details of the known world. But once the walls appeared I was horrified to discover the map had been... wiped clean.”

  “Erased,” Rob said. Then he noticed something. A tiny black dot near the far left edge of the tapestry. He peered at it.

  It was rectangular in shape with uneven lines. As he looked closer an even tinier dot appeared within it, near the rectangle's bottom edge.

  “What is this?” he said, and as he spoke little words appeared above the new dot.

  King Robert Barron.

  He blinked at the words. “What the...”

  Two more words appeared, larger this time, across the entire rectangle itself. Kingdom Unknown.

  “Is that... me?” Rob said, trying to wrap his mind around what he was seeing.

  “Yes, my Lord,” Saif said. “As I said, this is a map of the known world. But to be more exact, it's a map of what you know about the world. As you make discoveries and learn details of other places, they will appear here on the map.”

  Rob thought on this for a few moments. Saif waited patiently, watching.

  “So,” Rob said. “As I move around and visit different places they appear here on the map?”

  “Correct.”

  “Wow. But when I'm out there, in the big wide world, I'll have to make a map of my own to get around. Then update it when I return and review this map.”

  “Actually, my Lord, there is something I have for you that will be of immense use.” The Sage reached into another pocket and pulled out a thick scroll with two wooden rollers. “This is a more, uh, mobile version of this tapestry. You can carry it with you and refer to it as needed.” He handed it to Rob.

  Rob took it carefully, grinning.

  You have taken an item: Scroll of Location

  This scroll will record all locations, lands and points of interest as you travel. Linked to Robert Barron's Known World Tapestry.

  Value: Determined by content.

  The scroll appeared to be made of the same material as the tapestry, of what he could only guess. The two rollers looked to be of polished wood with their ends carved into heads of little dragons.

  “Open it, my Lord, it's okay.”

  Rob placed his club on the little table and held the scroll with both hands, rolling it open. As he did so, the same irregular rectangle on the tapestry appeared on the scroll, along with the dot with his name over it.

  But, unlike the tapestry, this version had more detail. He could see a place marked 'Dock', with a tiny path that led south to 'Castle Hill' and 'Main Camp'. Next to those was a minuscule square marked 'Manor' with his dot in the middle of it.

  “Cool!” Rob said. But the rest of the rectangle was empty. “This area will fill in as I move around?”

  “Yes, my Lord. And I will be able to watch your travels from here,” Saif motioned at the tapestry.

  Rob chuckled. This was like the GPS maps on his phone, only cooler.

  “I see you have a pouch of holding,” Saif said. “I'd advise you always keep the scroll inside it, only taking it out when necessary.”

  “This costs a lot? I see its value is determined by content. What's that about?”

  “Every scroll like this fills in with details, valuable details. Right now it has nothing on it other than what you've seen today, so there is no real value to it. But as time goes by it will fill in. And if someone gets a hold of that map...”

  “Then they'd have access to all the information drawn on it,” Rob finished for him. “Can I stow it away now?”

  “Of course, my Lord. It is yours to do with as you please.”

  Grinning happily, Rob rolled up the scroll then opened the pouch on his belt loop. He slid the scroll inside where it vanished without effecting the appearance or weight of the pouch.

  On a whim, he peered inside the pouch and its inventory management screen appeared before him. Rotating in the upper left-hand corner was the scroll labeled Scroll of Location.

  He closed it up and laughed.

  Okay, my situation may suck, he thought, but this pouch and scroll are just too cool.

  “Having that map will save you incredible hardships in the days ahead,” Saif said.

  “I don't doubt it,” Rob said, then looked over the wall tapestry again. The map was huge, its empty space vast and terrifying. His entire kingdom was a near invisible dot on one side of it. The scale of this world was huge. Mind boggling, even.

  He shook his head in wonder. “This is intimidating. Cool as all hell, but intimidating. So, I guess I should get out there, armed with my trusty club and start exploring it?”

  Saif frowned. “Actually, my Lord there is a matter you must be made aware of before any of your adventures can begin. Please, may we sit?”

  Rob removed the club from the little table, leaned it against a wall, and he and Saif sat down.

  Saif closed his eyes as if gathering his thoughts.

  This must be big, Rob thought.

  When Saif opened them, he looked serious. “My Lord, you are now indelibly linked to this kingdom. As you thrive and grow, so does it. But there is currently a task that must be performed before the kingdom can make any true progress. If it is not done, then all your efforts will be wasted. You would grow as an adventurer, but your kingship, and by extension your kingdom, would be stunted.”

  “There is something I'm required to do?”

  “Yes, my Lord,” Saif said, hesitating.

  “Well, what is it?”

  “You need to destroy the undead corpse of our former king.”

  CHAPTER NINE

  “You had another king?” Rob said, surprised. Was he someone else who had been abducted, also?

  Saif nodded. “Yes, but he was not a chosen one, like you. He was one of us, a resident of the valley and a subject of the kingdom.”

  “What happened to him?” Rob said, disappointed. For a brief moment he thought there could be someone like him out there in this massive world.

  “As you can see, this kingdom is in need of help. Not just help, but leadership in order to progress. But the gods apparently did not deem us worthy, and a chosen one never came. So we did the only thing we thought could possibly save us.”

  “What was that?”

  “We voted one in.”

  “Kings can be voted on?” Rob said. In the real world, he'd never heard of that before. Kings were created either by birth or conquest. This world appeared to be a little more forward thinking.

  Saif shrugged, a gesture nea
rly lost beneath his large robes. “Admittedly, it was a simple salve to apply to our greater wounds. Once we selected a king from amongst ourselves the gods were slow to accept him. Sure, there were some improvements, but overall it was a fallacy.”

  “Who was he?”