Accidental Warrior: A LitRPG Accidental Traveler Adventure

by Jamie Davis

  Hal nodded approval and then darted forward to bring the attack to the two imperial cavalry troopers.

  His first slashing attack was parried by the two opponents but that gave the quick-thinking spearman a chance to lunge forward and sink the broad head of his spear point into the thigh of the trooper to the left.

  The man fell backward clutching his leg.

  Hal took the attack to the man’s companion and soon succeeded in finishing him with a slash across the throat that caused him to collapse gurgling to the ground.

  2500 experience points awarded.

  By that time, the spearman had plunged his spear into the felled trooper’s chest, ending the fight for him as well.

  “Good job with that attack while I kept them busy. Let’s stick together and see what other trouble we can find. What’s your name?”

  “Erik,” the teenaged boy answered.

  “Good, Erik. Stick with me and we’ll get through this together. We need to stop these imperials from killing everyone in this whole village.”

  “Yes, sir. What about Tad?”

  The boy gestured to his dead friend laying in the dirt nearby.

  “We’ll come back and tend to him later, I promise. Right now, we have to tend to the living and save those we can.”

  The boy nodded and tightened his grip on the spear shaft he held. Hal could see the knuckles whiten with the force of his grip.

  The kid was afraid but ready to proceed anyway. Good for him, Hal thought.

  Waving for Erik to follow, Hal headed towards the sound of steel clashing together nearby.

  Turning the corner, Hal and Erik stepped into the village’s small central square where ten imperial troopers faced off against Kay, Otto, Rune, and Junica. They were accompanied by what must be the two remaining recruits who’d assaulted the village with them.

  Junica was the closest to them.

  Out of arrows, she had dropped her bow and was fighting against two imperials with her dual long knives. She was good but clearly hard pressed by the two larger male opponents.

  “Take the one on the left, Erik. We hit them from behind.”

  The boy nodded and set off at a run following Hal into the melee.

  Erik’s attack struck home, taking the trooper on the left between the shoulder blades, impaling him on the steel spearhead.

  The other trooper must have seen them coming out of the corner of his eye because he turned and caught Hal’s attack slicing in at his back on his saber’s cross guard.

  Hal didn’t let that stop his momentum and carried himself forward until he slammed into the other man, knocking him backward to the ground. Releasing his grip on his sword, Hal, pulled his dagger and shoved if up under the trooper’s ribs twice until he stiffened as the long blade found his heart.

  2500 experience points awarded.

  Otto and Kay finished a pair of imperials they faced and Otto found himself locked in a desperate duel between himself and the officer in charge of the cavalry unit.

  Kay was facing another sergeant on her own while Rune battled against a pair of imperial troopers beside her, his flashing hands and kicking feet a blur as he batted aside the steel blades as if they were nothing.

  Erik again followed Hal as he faced off against the final two troopers.

  Junica joined them and Hal pointed to Erik.

  “Help the kid. I’ve got mine.”

  Junica nodded and moved to the left to assist Erik with his adversary.

  Hal faced off against the final trooper who started backing up as he saw the odds turn against him and his fellow soldiers.

  A fleeting thought passed through Hal’s mind to let the guy go but then he caught sight of a heap of bodies near the small church at the center of the village. They looked like the bodies of children.

  Hal’s vision turned red and all thought of offering quarter left him as he began battering at the trooper’s defenses, fury filling him with white hot determination to avenge the dead villagers.

  It wasn’t long before Hal realized he was hacking a corpse. The telltale glowing letters drifting across his vision telling him he’d killed his opponent.

  2500 experience points awarded.

  Hal turned to check on his companions.

  Otto was wiping off the double-blade of his axe. The dead officer lay headless at his feet.

  Rune tended to a wounded recruit nearby and Junica was retrieving unbroken arrows, wiping the blood from the steel heads and replacing them in her quiver.

  Kay called out to Hal.

  “A few got past us when we charged into the square, Hal. We should think about getting out of here. There might be other imperials around. If they corner us here, we’ll have a hard time breaking free.”

  “Hopefully the goblin scouts caught them as they left town running south.”

  “We can’t count on that.”

  Hal sighed.

  “You’re right, Kay, but let’s see if we can help the villagers out some first, otherwise we’ll just be leaving them as fodder for the next imperial patrol to come around.”

  Kay walked over to Hal and lowered her voice.

  “You’re not thinking of bringing them with us, are you?”

  When Hal didn’t answer right away, she leaned closer in a harsh whisper.

  “Hal, we have to move fast to get around the imperial army. There’s no time to gather up a bunch of villagers and wait for them to keep up with us.”

  Hal thought about it and snapped his fingers.

  “We don’t have to wait for them. We have the imperial cavalry mounts in addition to our own. There can’t be that many villagers left alive based on the carnage I’ve seen. We’ll put the smallest and weakest on horseback that way we can move faster.”

  Hal called for Erik.

  “Erik, I’m promoting you to corporal. Go back to where our horses are being held. Tell the recruits there to bring them here to the center of the village.”

  The boy swelled with pride and hurried south through the village huts disappearing in the deepening night as darkness fell over the village. The burning huts nearby filled the night with plenty of light, though and Hal and the others set to gathering the surviving villagers together and seeing what the final tally was.

  By the time Erik returned, Hal had discussed the available options with the single surviving village elder.

  “I don’t think you want to stay here but it’s up to you.”

  “Sir Hal, I don’t think we have much left here to keep us in this place. We will come with you and serve you if you will have us.”

  Hal started to tell the elder there was no need to serve anyone but he caught a glance from Kay as she shook her head.

  “We’ll talk more about that later. For now, gather up your people and get them ready to leave. We must get out of here quickly.”

  “Yes, my lord.”

  Hal started to correct the man as he walked away but Kay laid her hand on his arm.

  “Let it go, Hal. They need something, someone to believe in and follow. It helps them to think of you as a nobleman.”

  “But I’m not, Kay. You were raised in that life but, heck, we don’t even have noblemen where I come from.”

  “How do you rule your land if you have no leaders?”

  “We elect our leaders from among the regular folks.”

  “You’re led by commoners? No wonder you say such strange things all the time.”

  “Believe me, it’s a lot more than strange if you compared the two places. Maybe someday I’ll get the chance to show it to you and you can meet my wife and daughter.”

  “I’d like that, Hal. She must be a remarkable woman to put up with a fellow like you.”

  “You have no idea, Kay.”

  The weakest and youngest in the village had been gathered. There were forty-two survivors, most of them women and children. Those selected were mounted on the horses, the smallest with an adult seated behind to hold them in the saddle. By the time they were
finished, all but five women and the elder, named Fagan, remained on foot.

  “Come on everyone,” Hal called out. Let’s get a move on. We need to put some distance between us and this village before we settle down for some rest. We should be able to get ahead of the imperial army in the darkness with the goblin scouts to lead us in the darkness.”

  “Are they reliable, Lord Hal?” Fagan asked.

  “I’d trust Churg and his scouts with my own life, Fagan. You can trust them, too. They’re good folks just like you.”

  The old man looked doubtful but nodded and got in line to head out of the village.

  The small column of soldiers and mounted villagers started off into the night, leaving the village and the bodies of the dead imperials and their victims behind to burn inside the flaming huts.

  Hal spared a single glance back and then trotted back to the front of the line to lead the enlarged band of refugees to safety.

  Quest completed — free the village.

  7,500 experience awarded.

  36

  Two days later, Hal led the road-weary villagers and the surviving recruits from their failed raid into his army’s camp. Bilham greeted him at the camp’s edge.

  “I heard things didn’t go as planned, Hal.”

  “That’s an understatement. We got spanked.”

  “You lived to come back and fight another day, Hal. There’s something to be said for that.”

  Hal pondered Bilham’s words as another game message popped up into his vision.

  Quest completed — avoid capture while returning to camp.

  10,000 experience awarded.

  The message reminded Hal to check his stats. He hadn’t looked at them for days but he knew he needed more game experience before he could hit his next level up. Reaching the next level was important because it would match his thief level. With both warrior and thief levels at eleven, Hal would regain his thief skills again. Those additional skills and bonuses were going to come in handy for what he had planned for the fight against Norak’s approaching army.

  Name: Hal Dix

  Class: Warrior

  Level: 10

  Attributes:

  Brawn: 26 — +9

  Wisdom: 10 — +1

  Luck: 30 — +11 (Max)

  Speed: 14 — +3

  Looks: 8

  Health: 116/116

  Skills: Shield Bash - 2, One-Handed Combat - 3, Combat Misdirection - 1, Prescience - 2, Chakra Regeneration - 3 (18hp during combat; 1/day), Riposte - 2

  Weapon Proficiencies: Long Sword - 4, Crossbow - 1

  Warrior Experience: 120,300/125,000

  Rogue Experience: 146,100/250,000

  Hal winced when he saw the experience point total. He was so close to leveling up.

  “What are you thinking about, boy?” Bilham asked. “You look like you ate some bad cheese.”

  “Don’t pay any attention to that look,” Kay said. “It’s that faraway look he gets from time to time. It’s like he is looking at something that’s not there.”

  Hal shook his head as he cleared the stats menu from his mind.

  “It’s nothing. Neither of you have to worry about me. I was thinking about what I have to do next, what we all have to do.”

  “There’s a lot to pull together in a short time but I’m sure you have a clever plan up your sleeve, right Hal?” Kay punched him in the shoulder with a gauntleted fist. Of course, I’ll hate the idea, but you’ll tell me to trust you and that it will all work out in the end.”

  “You know me too well, Kay.”

  Bilham snorted.

  “Don’t make too many plans yet. There’ve been a few changes since you left, including the arrival of some additional help.”

  “What kind of help?” Hal asked.

  “You’ll both see when we get to you command tent, Hal. I told their commander he could stay there until you returned. He was quite insistent he get the finest accommodations we could offer him.”

  Bilham’s announcement intrigued Hal and he picked up his pace towards the center of camp.

  As the command pavilion came into view, Hal noticed right away a new standard flying from the central tent pole though he didn’t recognize it.

  Kay, however, did.

  “No, it couldn’t be,” she blurted out as she broke into a run, headed for Hal’s pavilion.

  Hal looked at Bilham but the old man shrugged. He didn’t understand any more than Hal did.

  By the time Hal arrived at the pavilion and pushed the flaps aside to enter, Kay had already run inside. He walked into his tent but didn’t expect to see what greeted his eyes when he did.

  Kay was locked in a passionate embrace with a tall blonde knight. The man was literally a knight in shining armor and he wondered how the two of them didn’t manage to harm each other with their armor in the way as it was.

  Hal cleared his throat as Bilham stepped into the pavilion behind him.

  The two broke their embrace but kept stealing glances at each other as they turned to face him.

  “Uh, Kay, I guess you know this gentleman?”

  “Yes, Hal, this is Sir Anders Engelwood, my betrothed. At least that was our status before the Emperor captured our city and enslaved my family.”

  The tall knight strode forward and extended a hand to Hal.

  “I have to say, it is a pleasure to meet the man who helped free Kareena from certain death and kept her safe all this time while I searched for her.”

  Hal expected a sharp retort from Kay at being told she needed defending but she only smiled and nodded.

  He took the offered hand and shook it.

  “I don’t think she needed much of my help, Sir Anders. She’s quite able to take care of herself.”

  “Of course, she didn’t, still you lent your skill and protection and for that I am forever in your debt.”

  Bilham stepped forward to break the awkward silence that followed.

  “Sir Anders arrived yesterday with a contingent of five hundred heavy cavalrymen and women from the western free cities.”

  Anders nodded.

  “Duke Korran of Tandon helped to organize a unified force from the free cities. He sent us eastward in search of your army so we might lend a hand in your endeavors. It is my understanding you plan on taking the fight to Norak’s army in the region. Is this true?”

  “More like they plan on bringing the battle to us,” Hal said. He was still trying to understand the change in Kay with Anders here. She and the knight clearly had history but he never knew her to be second to anyone, yet there she stood, still acting shocked to see him standing there.

  “What do you mean?” Anders asked. “I heard you left on a raid and were late getting back. You must have run into some trouble.”

  “You could say that,” Hal replied. “Let’s just say Norak discovered the location of our camp here and they’re about a day’s travel east of here and planning on attacking as soon as they arrive.”

  “Then we must prepare our forces. I have to say I didn’t expect much when I first heard about the composition of your forces, but your able officers, like Bilham here, have all acquitted themselves well in training the recruits you’ve collected. Still, I am concerned about how they’ll do if it comes to a pitched battle.”

  “They’ll do just fine,” Hal said. “I’ve seen what they can do in a fight. Plus, they know the stakes if they lose. You’ll find they are very motivated to win this fight. The alternative is death, or worse, a return to slavery.”

  “I meant no disrespect, Hal. It was only a professional observation, from one soldier to another.”

  Hal let the qualified apology slide past. He wanted to know more about this guy. How did he manage to escape when Kay’s family did not?

  “I’m curious, Anders, could you tell us how you came to escape the Emperor’s assault on your own city.”

  Kay stepped forward and held up a hand.

  “I hear that tone in your voice, Hal. You should know,
Anders is one of my oldest childhood friends. His parents and my parents were very close and we’ve been promised to each other since a young age.”

  “I’m only asking the question you must have yourself, Kay. You were very clear about what happened to the nobility and their families when the Emperor invaded your land.”

  Anders smiled and nodded.

  “You’re right to question me, Hal. You don’t know me. I would do the same in your place. I was leading a blocking force against one of the imperial armies invading our land. I didn’t know about the other surprise assault coming in from the north that ultimately took the capital city. By the time me and my officers knew what had happened, the Emperor was inside the city and the purges had begun.”

  Anders paused and a cloud passed over his face. Hal thought understood the pause when he thought about what the Emperor had ordered done to all the nobles there.

  “Since then, I’ve searched for some word of Kareena’s whereabouts while fighting a guerrilla war on the fringes of imperial lands. I only recently learned she was discovered in Tandon. Once I had word of her whereabouts, I journeyed to Tandon with my few remaining men and women to pledge our loyalty to her as the crown princess of our land and ask her to lead us in battle to retake our country. It was the Duke of Tandon who told me of your exploits in freeing his city and how you returned from your far away land to fight alongside Kareena since she was captured here in Hyroth.”

  Kay shook her head after hearing his tale.

  “I thought you were dead along with all the others I knew and loved, Anders. When I was sold as a slave, I gave up hope of ever seeing you or anyone else ever again.”

  Anders reached down and took her hand in his.

  “I’ll never leave your side again. We’ll fight side by side in this battle and defeat Norak and his army. The defeat will resonate throughout the Empire as yet another city is freed from the Emperor’s tyranny.”

  “I hate to burst your bubble, Anders,” Hal interrupted. “Kay isn’t going to be fighting beside you in the coming battle. I need her and a few others to help me break through Norak’s lines from behind and destroy his new secret weapon.”