The Eternal: Transcend - A LitRPG Saga (World of Ga'em Book 3)

by Dhayaa Anbajagane

  Only to get up and charge at me once again.

  I heard more roars sound from behind me and I felt someone lean against my back.

  “What do we do?” Freya asked, standing at my flank. “We seem to have aggravated them.”

  “Yeaaah. I didn’t think the water spell would do that.”

  “Sorry, my bad,” Nyx said.

  “I don’t think physical attacks are going to work too well with these creatures.” Freya eyed them all. “We need backup.”

  “Not Raffyr or Viola,” I said. “Those two are nowhere close to these beasts in raw level count, let alone attack capability.”

  “Ouch. We just push at these guys then?”

  I nodded.

  A ring of roars sounded and the beasts charged at us, all at once. I shot forward, and swung my blade through the air, sending a powerful arc of wind at them. The attack pushed them back, but didn’t delay their advance by more than a few seconds.

  I surged in between the beasts. Dodging claw attacks and bite attempts as I struck their bodies, strike after strike after strike.

  All of a sudden, I heard a scream from behind me. I jumped back, away from the bears, and turned to the cave.

  Raffyr lay on the ground, with Oris in front of him, holding his blade right above the old man’s heart.

  I moved without thinking, and surged right for the knight. My fist met with his face before he could even turn, and the young man went flying into the cave. I watched his health bar as he landed back to the ground.

  “He’s still alive,” Nyx said.

  Lucky, I grinned. I turned around and saw that Freya had backed up to the mouth of the cave as well, eyeing the approach beasts intently.

  “We can't take them on ourselves,” I said, standing beside her.

  “Diablo, maybe we should do it now,” Acnologia said.

  I shook my head. We can manage without it.

  “But we—”

  We’re in a new place with no clue what adversities we’ll face, I thought. I want to hold that in reserve for when we truly have no hope of beating an opponent. Not just because defeating an enemy is particularly hard.

  “...Understood,” the dragon said.

  Freya looked through the trees. “What’s your plan of attack?”

  A thundering roar emerged from the forest, and the form of the bears come forward, with their blood-red eyes looking at us in absolute rage. Whatever I’d done with my water attack had caused them to completely flip.

  I held Dawnbreaker up before me, and my mind formulated a plan. I hadn’t wanted to use any of my more special moves here, given we didn’t know where a dangerous enemy might be watching us. But the situation had pushed me to using those very moves now.

  Rather be found out than have my friends killed, I thought.

  “Kalia Urr Tal,” a voice uttered, rendering the words in a melodious tone.

  Two walls of stones rose from either side of the group of Volcanic bears and shot toward each other, smashing through every living thing between them. The walls collided with a massive boom, and sunk back into the ground immediately after, leaving no trace of the Volcanic Bears it had just crushed.

  Not even blood.

  I turned around, my face aghast, and I instantly froze.

  Eyes of iridescent green shone through the shadows, mischievous in their gaze. The lady in the white robes looked at me, and her dark hair fluttered in the wind.

  “That was quite refreshing,” she smiled. “Wouldn’t you agree?”

  ***

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  So I’d been brought to the past, attacked by a horde of Volcanic bears, and then saved by the most unlikely of forces.

  The Eternal.

  The dark-skinned lady looked around, at every single one of us. Curiosity brimmed in her eyes, but she didn’t seem the very least bothered about where she was right now.

  “Well, to her this is home,” Nyx said. “Your feelings are the ones that are odd here.”

  I know, I sighed. But to be completely fair, I also lost almost all of my memories.

  “Thank you,” the lady bowed to me.

  “Eh?” I looked at her.

  “You are the one who saved me, did you not?”

  “What?” I blinked.

  “From the cave,” she said. “On that island.”

  “Oh.” I recalled the events that had happened earlier in the day. “You remember all that?”

  “It appears I do.” She sounded confused. “Although the images are very faint. The most I can recall is you taking me somewhere, out of harm’s way.”

  “I didn’t really do much.”

  “It meant much for me,” she smiled charmingly. “I am Irmeia.”

  “It’s nice to meet you, Irmeia, I am Di—” I stopped. “Zoran,” I smiled. “I am Zoran.”

  “Well, thank you for saving me, Zoran,” she said.

  “That’s the first time you’ve chosen Diablo over Zoran.”

  Switched back fast enough though, I smiled.

  “Why did you refrain from giving her that name, Diablo?” Acnologia asked.

  The Phantom Lord has many enemies, I replied.

  “YOU FIENDS!” a voice yelled, and a man in a dark suit shot out of the deeper end of the cave.

  Oh yeah, the Knight, I thought. I almost forgot about him.

  I unsheathed Dawnbreaker, but I didn’t need to. Freya shot to Oris in a flash and struck the flat of her blade against his side. He went flying into the cave walls and slumped to the floor in a flash, unconscious yet again. She simply tossed him over her shoulder and walked back to us, with a cold expression in her eyes.

  “Impressive,” Nyx said.

  “What do we do with this guy?” Freya asked.

  “Make sure he’s bound up,” I said. “I’m not sure what we can bind him with.”

  “I can take care of that,” she said. She dropped him down to the floor and pulled his hands behind his back. She held them together at the wrist and whispered a word. A string of white light flowed out of her fingertips and swirled around the man’s wrists, constricting them in an instant.

  “Whoa.” My eyes widened.

  The elf smiled. “He shouldn’t be able to get out of those anytime soon.”

  I nodded and turned to face the Eternal. Raffyr and Viola stood behind her, both staring at the Eternal eagerly. Raffyr looked at lady in wonder, obviously already ready with a ton of questions to ask, and Viola…well she still wasn’t meeting my eyes yet, so I couldn’t really say much.

  “So, what exactly happened?” Irmeia asked. “I remember feeling a heat pass through me, and the next thing I knew I woke up here.”

  “Wait, I’m still confused,” I said. “You were able to feel sensations even while you were in that coma?”

  “It is odd, isn’t it? I do not understand it myself. But I am certain it happened.”

  Why would that be the case though? I wondered.

  “It might be useful to find out who she is,” Nyx said. “Other than her name of course.”

  I nodded. “Irmeia, can you tell us anything else you know about yourself?”

  She shook her head. “My name is all I remember. The other pieces of information…They seem to have disappeared from my mind.”

  I stiffened at the phrase, but stayed calmed. “That is unfortunate,” I said. “Do you recall anything about how you got here?”

  She thought for a bit, but shook her head. “Nothing of that either. All I remember is feeling a heat pass through my body. After that I woke up in here and used that attack on those bears.”

  I quietly used my Analyze skill on her and waited for the screen to pop up into my mind.

  DING!

  Name

  Irmeia

  Health

  10910

  Race

  Eternal

  Mana

  9180

  Level

  675

  Stamina

  10530

 
Wow, I thought. I had not expected her to be that strong. Especially since I hadn’t been that strong when I’d first woken up.

  “But you’re also special,” Nyx said, in an amused tone.

  I knew he was joking, but he was also being serious. I was an odd case, so I couldn’t be a standard for how things would happen to other Eternals.

  DING!

  Congratulations! You have completed the quest: The Third Eternal I! You have learned the name of the Third Eternal and taken a new step toward learning who she is. Reward: The Third Eternal II.

  DING!

  Congratulations! You have obtained a new quest: The Third Eternal II! Irmeia appears to have lost all other memory of who she is. Try to find a way to learn more about her and her past. Reward: Unknown.

  I took a look at both screens and closed them, not paying much attention to the objectives.

  “Moving on,” Irmeia said, looking at us. “I do not know about all of you, but I am famished. I obtained quite a bit of meat from defeating the horde. What do you say we make ourselves a meal here?”

  I looked at everyone else. They were all huffing tiredly, and were probably hungry as well. Freya and I hadn’t eaten anything since we set out on our adventure a long while ago.

  “That…sounds good,” the elf said.

  “Splendid,” Irmeia said. “Let us get started then.”

  And it was a lot easier than I expected. We had everything we needed right around us. The trees that had fallen during the battle had more than enough dry wood on them to start a fire. I started a few flames with a moderated Fire Arts spell, and Irmeia brought out the bear meat she had. A large pile lay on the cave floor, and rose up to my waist.

  That’s a lot of meat, I said.

  “Well, she also did kill a lot of bears,” Nyx said.

  Irmeia quickly set up a wooden turnabout. She impaled two large sections of meat with a sharp branch and lay it on the picks, over the fire. I helped her along the way, preparing the meat with spices that she had.

  “This lady is quite prepared,” Acnologia said.

  Tell me about it, I chuckled, as I patted some exotic powder into the meat.

  DING!

  Congratulations! You have obtained a new skill: Cooking! The world of tastes and delicacies is now within your reach. Food you prepare will cause greater satisfaction and fulfillment.

  I grinned. Nice, I thought, and closed the screen.

  “Well that was an odd skill to obtain,” Nyx said.

  I’ve always wanted to get a cooking skill though, I grinned.

  “Why?”

  So I can cook myself good food, I said. Why else?

  It took us a while longer to prepare more sets of meat, and it took even longer to roast them over the fire till they were done. About an hour later we all finally sat down, each with a large piece of meat wrapped in fresh leaves from the fallen trees.

  I unwound a part of the green wrap and took a bite into the food, and felt the meat melt into my mouth. It’s been a while since I had food that was this good, I thought. Actually, I couldn’t really remember the last time I had food this good.

  DING!

  Health Regeneration increased by +5% for an hour! Mana Regeneration increased by +5% for an hour!

  Eh? I blinked. I heard more ding sounds and saw that everyone else had a Ga’em prompt open in front of them as well.

  “Ah, sorry,” Irmeia said. “My cooking skill is quite high, so when I make food, it automatically increases your regeneration rates.”

  “Why are you apologizing for that?” I chuckled. “That’s amazing.”

  She nodded, and a smile shone on her face. After that, everyone ate with gusto, and we finished off our meat in quick bites. The whole time, I kept a watch on Oris from the corner of my eyes. The knight was still knocked cold, and was on the ground a few yards from us. I was pretty sure he couldn’t get out of those bonds of light, but in the event he did, I wanted to make sure nothing happened.

  “Okay,” Freya said. “I’ll start since no one else seems to have anything to say.”

  Eh? I looked at her.

  “What exactly are we going to do right now?” the elf asked. “It’s clear that we’re in the past right now. And I doubt we should stay here for longer.”

  Raffyr nodded. “We have not started thinking about a way to leave this time.”

  I nodded. “We do need to find a way to get back to when we came from.”

  Irmeia glanced at us. “If you are looking at me for an answer, I should tell you now. I have nothing to say about it,” she said. “I am sorry.”

  “Do you have anything that could at least lead us on the right path?” Freya asked.

  She shook her head. “There is nothing I can give you of help,” she said. “I am not even aware of what exactly happened in the first place.”

  “She’s right,” I sighed. “Asking her how to get us back would be like asking me how I emerged into the world when I first showed up.”

  “I see,” Raffyr reclined back. “That doesn’t give us many options.”

  “We can try to move around and see if we find any places of interest. Surely there must be a town or two close by. The age of the Eternals was not void of civilization.”

  “That is true,” Irmeia said.

  “It’d be our best bet to find such a place then,” Freya said. “We are not cut out to be surviving in such a place— you included Zoran. It is best we quickly leave.”

  “Understood,” I said.

  DING!

  Congratulations! You have obtained a new quest: Back to the Future! You and your companions have been sent back to the past of the lands. Find any sort of civilization so you can ask for help and move toward finding a way back to your own time. Rewards: Unknown.

  I don’t really need a reward for completing a quest like this, I thought. I glanced at Irmeia. “What exactly do you remember?” I asked. “Not just about what happened before you woke up, but everything in general.”

  “Well,” the Eternal said. “I know how to use all my powers and abilities. I remember my name. I remember you and an elf walking up to me when I was immobile in the cave. Oddly that elf was called Freya too, but she looked completely different.”

  I smiled, remembering that Freya had been in her Moon-elf form back then.

  “What else?” I asked.

  “I remember feeling a dense heat within me after that. And then, like I told you, I woke up.”

  “You woke up here with complete knowledge of how to use your powers.”

  “Yes, why?”

  I frowned. “That was not what I’d expected.”

  So she clearly didn’t have the same problems I did, I thought.

  “It seems she didn’t,” Nyx agreed.

  “Are you sure you remember nothing else about yourself?” I asked. “Other than your name.”

  She thought for a second, and then shook her head. “Nothing.”

  My stomach knotted again. And I finally realized why. This situation contained a similarity to me. A very strong similarity at that.

  When I’d first woken up I’d known just my name and absolutely nothing else. It took me days to figure out just a few things about who I even was. And that’d taken a battle with the Dark Lord to even happen in the first place.

  “Irmeia, I presume you do not remember any other Eternals?” Freya asked.

  She shook her head. “None,” she said. “It took me a long while to even figure out that Zoran was an Eternal.”

  “Oh,” I said, and that made me realize something. “Are you aware that your powers are nerfed right now?”

  Her eyes narrowed and she looked at me like I’d said the most absurd thing in the world. “They are?” She blinked.

  “Zoran, you realize that even as an Eternal, you were insanely over-powered, right?” Nyx asked. “Your idea of what a strong level is has nothing to do with where her level cap might be.”

  Ah, I said. I looked at Irmeia. “Forget about
it, I was saying something silly.”

  She frowned, but said nothing.

  “It would probably be useful to figure out who you are, Irmeia,” Freya said.

  “I agree.” Raffyr scratched his chin. “It will be good to know who exactly you were in this world, given we’re in a tight spot as is. It may help us leaps and bounds to find out that information.”

  Irmeia sighed. “Finding out who I am sounds easier than it probably is.”

  “It won’t be too hard,” I said. “We’re already trying to look for a civilization. Once we find them, all we have to do now is ask around if they know of an Irmeia.”

  “That’s actually pretty simple.” The Eternal sounded enthusiastic.

  I nodded.

  DING!

  Congratulations! You have completed the quest: The Third Eternal II! You have now found a way to discern who Irmeia is in this time and age. Reward: The Third Eternal III.

  DING!

  Congratulations! You have obtained a new quest: The Third Eternal III! Irmeia has lost all knowledge of who she is and what her place in this world was. Find any sort of civilization so you can begin to uncover the identity of this lost Eternal. Reward: Relationship boost.

  I heard another ding, and noticed that Irmeia had a screen in front of her as well.

  “She seems to have gotten the same quest,” Nyx said.

  A part of me succumbed to a reminiscent feeling. This was exactly what had happened to me when I’d first set out to find who I was as well. I’d obtained a quest telling me to head to the nearest city, and find someone to talk to in order to discern the mysteries surrounding me.

  “I really don’t think your memory loss is something to feel reminiscent about,” Nyx said.

  Fine, fine, I sighed.

  The sky had turned a deep orange now, and tiny stars had come out into the open. I glanced up at the sight, and watched the jewel-like lights stud the warm colors of the evening sunset. The sun itself had disappeared behind the forest, the source of light slowly descending into the horizon.